Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. $VRDN

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Viridian Therapeutics by 38.8%, selling 67,086 shares and owning 105,874 shares valued at approximately $1.43 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in Viridian Therapeutics, with Amalgamated Bank leading a 49.7% increase in its holdings during the first quarter.
• Viridian Therapeutics' stock price is currently at $18.38, and the company reported a revenue of $0.08 million for the recent quarter, which is above analysts' expectations of $0.05 million.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN - Free Report) by 38.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,874 shares of the company's stock after selling 67,086 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Viridian Therapeutics worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 49.7% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,531 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 198.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 681,012 shares of the company's stock worth $13,055,000 after acquiring an additional 452,627 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 208,836 shares of the company's stock worth $2,815,000 after acquiring an additional 30,392 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 104,559 shares of the company's stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 4,621 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 115,782 shares of the company's stock worth $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 26,286 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRDN. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Viridian Therapeutics from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.78.

Viridian Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VRDN traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,916. The company has a current ratio of 11.01, a quick ratio of 11.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.89 and a beta of 0.53. Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.90 and a 1-year high of $27.20.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($1.00) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($1.00). The business had revenue of $0.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.05 million. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 78.95% and a negative net margin of 112,806.88%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.81) EPS. Analysts predict that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.