Sand Grove Capital Management LLP Invests $23.92 Million in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Sand Grove Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 331,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,919,000. Avidity Biosciences comprises 8.1% of Sand Grove Capital Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 899,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $39,194,000 after acquiring an additional 319,282 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 179,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,545 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 8.9% during the 3rd 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,202,384 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,388,000 after acquiring an additional 420,476 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNA has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.25.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:RNA opened at $12.61 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.77. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.40 and a twelve month high of $16.77. The stock has a market cap of $215.71 million, a P/E ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.93.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly 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. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 44.92% and a negative net margin of 3,650.39%.The firm had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avidity Biosciences 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.