Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.75.

Several brokerages have commented on RNA. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Chardan Capital increased their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ RNA opened at $50.45 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.82 and a fifty-two week high of $50.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.16 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.25.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.11. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,381.82% and a negative return on equity of 32.89%. The business had revenue of $2.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences will post -3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $1,213,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,888,614.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.35, for a total transaction of $1,213,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,888,614.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 13,153 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total value of $578,732.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,036,792. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 150,543 shares of company stock valued at $6,762,692 over the last ninety days. 3.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RNA. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 291,218 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 43,147 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 2.5% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,972 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the first quarter worth about $205,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the first quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 140,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,593,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter.

About Avidity Biosciences

Avidity Biosciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the delivery of RNA therapeutics. It develops antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) that are designed to treat diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics. The company's lead product candidate AOC 1001 for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare monogenic muscle disease that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial.