Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.91 and last traded at $24.89, with a volume of 173979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRDN shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.80.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Up 3.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's fifty day moving average is $19.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 15.82 and a quick ratio of 15.82.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 83.18% and a negative net margin of 79,185.77%. The company had revenue of $0.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.09 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,600,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were acquired 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. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Viridian Therapeutics news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were acquired 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 owns 3,445,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,608,993.75. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham acquired 5,000 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.41 per share, with a total value of $117,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,460. This represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 1,626,400 shares of company stock worth $30,616,312 over the last ninety days. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viridian Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRDN. Novo Holdings A S lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 81.8% in the 2nd quarter. Novo Holdings A S now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $26,020,000 after buying an additional 900,000 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 22.9% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,307,945 shares of the company's stock worth $43,036,000 after acquiring an additional 615,531 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 167.8% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 749,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,754,000 after purchasing an additional 469,804 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 233,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 1,014.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,969,000 after purchasing an additional 207,711 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.