Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires New Position in Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRDN) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 9,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 62.9% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,327,000 after buying an additional 69,035 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Viridian Therapeutics by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 90,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 23,305 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,234,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,632,000 after acquiring an additional 233,331 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in Viridian Therapeutics by 167.8% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 749,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,754,000 after acquiring an additional 469,804 shares during the period. Finally, Novo Holdings A S grew its stake in Viridian Therapeutics by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Novo Holdings A S now owns 2,385,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,259,000 after purchasing an additional 385,000 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Viridian Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Viridian Therapeutics from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

Insider Activity at Viridian Therapeutics

In related news, COO Thomas W. Beetham acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.41 per share, with a total value of $117,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,460. This trade represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc bought 1,600,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.75 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,445,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,608,993.75. This trade represents a 86.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 1,626,400 shares of company stock worth $30,616,312 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Viridian Therapeutics Stock Performance

VRDN opened at $21.55 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.43. Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.40 and a 1 year high of $27.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 18.55 and a quick ratio of 18.55.

Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $0.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.08 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.03 earnings per share for the current 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.