Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $72.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

RNA has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $56.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $64.36.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ RNA opened at $31.82 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences has a 1 year low of $8.49 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.05 and a beta of 0.89.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 27.66% and a negative net margin of 2,772.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other news, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 12,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $416,153.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 72,647 shares in the company, valued at $2,372,651.02. This represents a 14.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $1,213,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,018 shares in the company, valued at $4,561,753.36. This represents a 21.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 193,071 shares of company stock worth $7,474,724 over the last 90 days. 3.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 30.1% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 539,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,766,000 after buying an additional 124,867 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,182 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,479,000 after acquiring an additional 197,065 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Avidity Biosciences by 2,263.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 739,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,190,000 after acquiring an additional 707,773 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 16.7% during the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,300,408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $289,378,000 after acquiring an additional 900,000 shares during the period. Finally, Sofinnova Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $875,000.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

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.