TD Cowen Begins Coverage on Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN)

TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. 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 note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Viridian Therapeutics Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of VRDN stock opened at $21.03 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.88 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.72 and a 200-day moving average of $17.24. The company has a current ratio of 18.55, a quick ratio of 18.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Viridian Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $11.40 and a 1-year high of $27.20.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.08 million. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 85,127.16% and a negative return on equity of 70.12%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viridian Therapeutics will post -4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc bought 1,600,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 $64,608,993.75. This trade represents a 86.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 $140,460. This trade represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 1,626,400 shares of company stock worth $30,616,312 over the last 90 days. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viridian Therapeutics

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