Bank of America Corp DE Makes New $17.35 Million Investment in Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. $VRDN

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated a $17.35 million position in Viridian Therapeutics during the second quarter, acquiring 944,345 shares, while several other institutional investors also established new stakes.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 12 analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Sell, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $38.69 price target.
• Viridian shares opened at $20.66 after declining 3.6%; the company missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $1.05 per share, and analysts project a full-year loss of $4.07 per share.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 944,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,348,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.83% of Viridian Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $197,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $505,000. Elmind Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $18,093,182. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $25,306,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $1,190,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VRDN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Viridian Therapeutics from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Viridian Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Viridian Therapeutics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.69.

Viridian Therapeutics Trading Down 3.6%

VRDN stock opened at $20.66 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $21.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.80. The company has a quick ratio of 16.95, a current ratio of 16.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.18 and a 52-week high of $34.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.13 and a beta of 0.97.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.03) by ($0.02). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 505.86% and a negative return on equity of 72.97%. The business had revenue of $0.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.06 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viridian Therapeutics

In other news, insider Jennifer Tousignant sold 14,212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $348,194.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Viridian Therapeutics

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for serious diseases involving the immune system. The company's primary focus is thyroid eye disease (TED), an autoimmune disorder that can cause inflammation, pain, swelling and vision-related complications.

Viridian's lead programs target the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), a pathway associated with TED. Its pipeline has included investigational therapies such as veligrotug (VRDN-001), an intravenous antibody designed to block IGF-1R, and subcutaneous formulations intended to provide more convenient administration.

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