Barclays PLC Has $167,000 Stock Holdings in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) by 546.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,094 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.13% of Verastem worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,918,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,192,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 67.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 359,060 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 493.7% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 179,725 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSTM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verastem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,321 shares of company stock valued at $52,217. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $5.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $4.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.61. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. On average, analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verastem Company 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.