Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Viridian Therapeutics was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from “sell” to “strong sell”, adding to a mixed analyst backdrop on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, broader analyst sentiment remains relatively positive: 13 analysts rate VRDN a Buy, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.79.
• The stock fell 2.3% to $19.74 as the company continues to report losses, though its latest quarter beat EPS expectations and saw a large insider purchase by Fairmount Funds Management.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VRDN. Weiss Ratings downgraded Viridian Therapeutics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $34.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $32.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $39.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.79.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of VRDN traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,431,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,431,652. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 15.15 and a current ratio of 15.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.95 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.36. Viridian Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $13.18 and a 52 week high of $34.29.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viridian Therapeutics news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc acquired 1,176,470 shares of Viridian Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 30.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRDN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,612,144 shares of the company's stock worth $174,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280,161 shares during the period. Commodore Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 4,875,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,152,000 after buying an additional 1,275,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,466,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,879,000 after buying an additional 912,394 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,021,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 3,042,703 shares of the company's stock worth $94,689,000 after buying an additional 1,580,303 shares during the last quarter.

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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