Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $17.90, but opened at $19.37. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $31.00 price target on the stock. Viridian Therapeutics shares last traded at $18.8180, with a volume of 1,396,922 shares changing hands.

VRDN has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Viridian Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. HC Wainwright cut their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $34.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore set a $26.00 price target on Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viridian Therapeutics

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc acquired 1,176,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $19,999,990.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,090,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,545,776. The trade was a 30.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,231,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,595,000 after buying an additional 310,998 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 130,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after buying an additional 14,788 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $187,000. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $179,000.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.21. The company has a quick ratio of 15.15, a current ratio of 15.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by $0.16. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 490.31% and a negative return on equity of 80.19%. The firm had revenue of $0.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.87) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 95.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

About Viridian Therapeutics

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: VRDN) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted antibody therapeutics for patients suffering from rare and serious diseases. The company’s lead program, VRDN-001, is a fully human monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), with an initial focus on thyroid eye disease (TED). By selectively inhibiting IGF-1R signaling, VRDN-001 aims to reduce inflammation and tissue remodeling associated with TED and related disorders.

In addition to VRDN-001, Viridian is advancing a second antibody program, VRDN-002, which targets complement-mediated pathways implicated in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.