Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Trading Down 5.8% – Time to Sell?

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) dropped 5.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $20.06 and last traded at $20.38. Approximately 222,846 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,112,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRDN. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.33.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Down 6.9 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 15.82 and a quick ratio of 15.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.08 million. Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 85,127.16% and a negative return on equity of 81.36%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc acquired 1,600,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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 $64,608,993.75. The trade was a 86.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas W. Beetham acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.41 per share, with a total value of $117,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,460. This represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,626,400 shares of company stock valued at $30,616,312. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viridian Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRDN. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 344.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 4,692 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $149,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viridian Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 24.6% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares during the period.

Viridian Therapeutics Company Profile

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.