Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. $VRDN Shares Sold by Perceptive Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Perceptive Advisors cut its Viridian Therapeutics stake by 61.5% in the first quarter, selling 1.87 million shares and retaining 1.17 million shares valued at approximately $22.9 million.
• Institutional ownership was mixed, with Vanguard, Commodore Capital, State Street, T. Rowe Price and Geode all increasing their positions. An affiliated director also bought 1.18 million shares at $17 each.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 13 Buy ratings and one Sell rating producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $38.79, versus a recent share price of $18.92.

Perceptive Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN - Free Report) by 61.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,170,829 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,871,874 shares during the quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC owned about 1.14% of Viridian Therapeutics worth $22,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,612,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,650,000 after buying an additional 1,280,161 shares during the last quarter. Commodore Capital LP grew its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 35.4% during the second quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 4,875,000 shares of the company's stock worth $68,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,466,560 shares of the company's stock worth $107,879,000 after acquiring an additional 912,394 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,439,414 shares of the company's stock worth $107,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,310 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,992,174 shares of the company's stock worth $62,007,000 after acquiring an additional 225,987 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $39.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Viridian Therapeutics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Viridian Therapeutics from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Viridian Therapeutics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Viridian Therapeutics from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viridian Therapeutics news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 1,176,470 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $19,999,990.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,090,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,545,776. The trade was a 30.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Viridian Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRDN opened at $18.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 15.15 and a quick ratio of 15.15. Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.18 and a 12 month high of $34.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $17.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.07.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.06) by $0.16. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 80.19% and a negative net margin of 490.31%.The firm had revenue of $0.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.04 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.87) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 95.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Viridian Therapeutics

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: VRDN is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted antibody therapeutics for patients suffering from rare and serious diseases. The company's lead program, VRDN-001, is a fully human monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), with an initial focus on thyroid eye disease (TED). By selectively inhibiting IGF-1R signaling, VRDN-001 aims to reduce inflammation and tissue remodeling associated with TED and related disorders.

In addition to VRDN-001, Viridian is advancing a second antibody program, VRDN-002, which targets complement-mediated pathways implicated in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

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