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

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 67.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on VRDN. BTIG Research increased their price target on Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.80.

Viridian Therapeutics Price Performance

VRDN opened at $22.74 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.20. Viridian Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $11.40 and a 12-month high of $25.39. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $0.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.09 million. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 79,185.77% and a negative return on equity of 83.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viridian Therapeutics will post -3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen F. Mahoney purchased 21,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.33 per share, for a total transaction of $499,262.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,262. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen F. Mahoney bought 21,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.33 per share, for a total transaction of $499,262.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 21,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,262. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.41 per share, for a total transaction of $117,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,460. The trade was 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 in the last quarter. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRDN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 9.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 23.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 82,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 15,700 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 7.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,234,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,632,000 after buying an additional 233,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 19.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter.

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.