Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on RNA. Evercore set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Chardan Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.79.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:RNA traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.31. The company had a trading volume of 174,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,432. Avidity Biosciences has a 12 month low of $13.81 and a 12 month high of $16.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.80.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($1.59) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.24) by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $0.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 3,650.39% and a negative return on equity of 44.92%. Equities research analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In related news, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 6,534 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total value of $473,388.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,164,987.85. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 14,387 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total transaction of $1,042,338.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 269,007 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,557.15. This trade represents a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 58,407 shares of company stock valued at $4,226,448 in the last 90 days. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at $435,708,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 30,032.5% during the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 6,026,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $434,691,000 after purchasing an additional 6,006,500 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter worth $314,847,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,736,000.

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.