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

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $38.00. The stock had previously closed at $14.19, but opened at $16.10. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viridian Therapeutics shares last traded at $15.98, with a volume of 6,540,406 shares trading hands.

VRDN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 67,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 371,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,087,000 after buying an additional 58,094 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,089,000. Finally, RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $13,195,000.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.40 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $15.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.99.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 79,185.77% and a negative return on equity of 83.18%. The business had revenue of $0.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.09 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.97 EPS for the current year.

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.