Brokerages Set Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) Target Price at $36.33

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.33.

VRDN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reissued 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRDN opened at $20.14 on Friday. Viridian Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $11.40 and a 1 year high of $27.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 18.55 and a quick ratio of 15.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.02.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.04). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 85,127.16% and a negative return on equity of 70.12%. The business had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.08 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Viridian Therapeutics will post -4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc bought 1,600,000 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 3,445,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,608,993.75. The trade was a 86.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen F. Mahoney purchased 21,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.33 per share, with a total value of $499,262.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 21,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,262. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 1,626,400 shares of company stock valued at $30,616,312 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viridian Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRDN. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 62.9% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after buying an additional 69,035 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 90,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 23,305 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,234,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,632,000 after acquiring an additional 233,331 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 167.8% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 749,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,754,000 after acquiring an additional 469,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novo Holdings A S grew its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 19.3% in the third quarter. Novo Holdings A S now owns 2,385,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,259,000 after purchasing an additional 385,000 shares during the period.

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.