Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $21.18, but opened at $22.44. Viridian Therapeutics shares last traded at $21.76, with a volume of 154,550 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc bought 1,600,000 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,445,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,608,993.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viridian Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.30.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 15.82 and a current ratio of 15.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.93 and a 200-day moving average of $15.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 1.03.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by ($0.15). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 83.18% and a negative net margin of 79,185.77%. The company had revenue of $0.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.09 million. Research analysts forecast that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viridian Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 344.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 4,692 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 9.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 108.3% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter.

About Viridian Therapeutics

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc, a biotechnology company, discover and develops treatments for serious and rare diseases. The company's product pipeline includes VRDN-001, a monoclonal antibody targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED); and VRDN-003, a next generation IGF-1R humanized monoclonal antibodies targeting IGF-1R and incorporating half-life extension technology for the treatment of TED.