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

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN)’s stock price 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.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on VRDN. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $34.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore set a $26.00 price target on Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $39.00 price target on Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,176,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $19,999,990.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,090,928 shares in the company, valued at $86,545,776. The trade was a 30.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viridian Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,231,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,595,000 after purchasing an additional 310,998 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $187,000. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $179,000.

Viridian Therapeutics Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 15.15 and a current ratio of 15.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.56 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.21.

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