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

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Free Report) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $38.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on VRDN. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viridian Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.33.

Viridian Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRDN traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $20.98. 679,803 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,119,021. Viridian Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $11.40 and a 12 month high of $27.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -4.69 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $22.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 18.55 and a current ratio of 18.55.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,445,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,608,993.75. This trade represents a 86.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham purchased 5,000 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.41 per share, for a total transaction of $117,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $140,460. The trade was a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,626,400 shares of company stock valued at $30,616,312. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 5.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,493,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,979,000 after acquiring an additional 81,951 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 113.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,851,000 after buying an additional 66,550 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $660,000. Sphera Funds Management LTD. acquired a new position in Viridian Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,959,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $788,000.

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.