Cantor Fitzgerald Begins Coverage on Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)

Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 100.32% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.81.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:RNA opened at $12.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $213.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.35. Avidity Biosciences has a 1-year low of $11.40 and a 1-year high of $16.77.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.00 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 3,650.39% and a negative return on equity of 44.92%. As a group, analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 899,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,194,000 after buying an additional 319,282 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 173.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 179,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,545 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 8.9% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 304,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,202,384 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,388,000 after purchasing an additional 420,476 shares in the last quarter.

About Avidity Biosciences

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.