Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viridian Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Viridian Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock opened at $21.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 18.55, a quick ratio of 18.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.24. Viridian Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $11.40 and a 52 week high of $27.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 1.10.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.04). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 70.12% and a negative net margin of 85,127.16%. The business had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.08 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viridian Therapeutics will post -4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viridian Therapeutics

In other news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.75 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,445,813 shares in the company, valued at $64,608,993.75. This represents a 86.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.41 per share, with a total value of $117,050.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $140,460. This represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 1,626,400 shares of company stock valued at $30,616,312. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viridian Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 5.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,493,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,979,000 after purchasing an additional 81,951 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 113.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 66,550 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $660,000. Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $1,959,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $788,000.

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.