Jane Street Group LLC Sells 16,806 Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 52.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 16,806 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Verastem were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Verastem during the second quarter worth about $203,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Verastem by 4,172.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 28,119 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at about $82,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at about $1,192,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 10,321 shares of company stock worth $52,217 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock opened at $5.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.33 million, a PE ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.73 and its 200-day moving average is $3.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. Equities research analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Verastem in a research note on Monday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Verastem Profile

Verastem, Inc, a development-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing drugs for the treatment of cancer in the United States. Its product candidates are Avutometinib, an orally available small molecule RAF/MEK clamp that inhibits the ras sarcoma RAF/MEK, ERK mitogen activated pathway kinase pathway which is involved in cell proliferation, migration, transformation, and survival of tumor cells; and Defactinib, an oral small molecule inhibitor of FAK and proline-rich tyrosine kinase for various solid tumors.