Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.1429.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $29.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $39.00 target price on Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Viridian Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Insider Activity at Viridian Therapeutics

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc acquired 1,176,470 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $19,999,990.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,090,928 shares in the company, valued at $86,545,776. This represents a 30.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRDN. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 1.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 33.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,231,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,595,000 after purchasing an additional 310,998 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 12.8% during 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 worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 14,788 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $187,000. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $179,000.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRDN opened at $17.26 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 15.15 and a current ratio of 15.15. Viridian Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $13.18 and a 52-week high of $34.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.20 and a beta of 0.82.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $0.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.87) earnings per share. Viridian Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Viridian Therapeutics will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Viridian Therapeutics Company Profile

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.