Kennedy Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) by 89.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 553,720 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Verastem worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VSTM. FMR LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verastem by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 62.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Verastem by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 20,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on VSTM. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com lowered Verastem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. B. Riley lifted their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.89.

Verastem Stock Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:VSTM traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $5.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 191,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 976,243. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $13.52. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $306.06 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.95 and a 200-day moving average of $5.06.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities research analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.