Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys Shares of 7,755 Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,755 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 1,635.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 642 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Avidity Biosciences by 291.5% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 1,659.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 1,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $142,582.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 63,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,610,585.36. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 2,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $171,401.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 91,627 shares in the company, valued at $6,618,218.21. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,362 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,437 in the last ninety days. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of RNA stock opened at $72.47 on Wednesday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.51 and a 12 month high of $72.70. The stock has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.19.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $12.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,634.59% and a negative return on equity of 37.70%. Avidity Biosciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.