Short Interest in Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) Expands By 28.9%

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,050,000 shares, an increase of 28.9% from the December 31st total of 9,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Viridian Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRDN. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Viridian Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $149,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 20.0% during the third quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRDN shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.70.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3 %

VRDN stock opened at $20.08 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.40. Viridian Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $11.40 and a twelve month high of $27.20. The company has a current ratio of 18.55, a quick ratio of 18.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.66 and a beta of 1.13.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.04). Viridian Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 85,127.16% and a negative return on equity of 70.12%. The company had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.08 million. Research analysts expect that Viridian Therapeutics will post -4.03 earnings per share 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.