Viridian Therapeutics’ (VRDN) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $38.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on VRDN. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.33.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRDN opened at $20.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 15.82, a quick ratio of 15.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.64 and its 200 day moving average is $16.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.10. Viridian Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $11.40 and a 1-year high of $27.20.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.08 million. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 81.36% and a negative net margin of 85,127.16%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viridian Therapeutics will post -3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viridian Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Stephen F. Mahoney bought 21,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.33 per share, with a total value of $499,262.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 21,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,262. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.41 per share, for a total transaction of $117,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,460. This represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 1,626,400 shares of company stock worth $30,616,312 over the last ninety days. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viridian Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 19.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 4.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 28,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 14.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 17.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 24.6% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter.

Viridian Therapeutics Company Profile

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.