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

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.5714.

RNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Chardan Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of RNA opened at $72.20 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.99. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.90. Avidity Biosciences has a 12 month low of $21.51 and a 12 month high of $72.61.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $12.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 37.70% and a negative net margin of 2,634.59%.Avidity Biosciences’s revenue was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven George Hughes sold 2,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total transaction of $105,015.86. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,867 shares in the company, valued at $1,847,737.18. This represents a 5.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Mosbrooker sold 6,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.38, for a total transaction of $297,783.56. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 55,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,495,900. This represents a 10.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,405,799. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RNA. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 204.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 288,139 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,506,000 after purchasing an additional 193,376 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at $12,729,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,378 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 2,621 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 523.1% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 279,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 234,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,684,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $285,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,459 shares during the last quarter.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

Avidity Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) therapies designed to address serious neuromuscular and cardiac diseases. The company’s proprietary AOC platform combines the targeting specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the gene-modulating power of oligonucleotides to deliver therapeutic agents directly into muscle cells. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, Avidity seeks to overcome traditional delivery challenges associated with RNA-based medicines by leveraging receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms.

The company’s lead product candidate, AOC 1001, is in clinical development for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and represents the first application of the AOC platform in a human study.