Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $54.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.24, but opened at $38.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Avidity Biosciences shares last traded at $33.70, with a volume of 409,321 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on RNA. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Chardan Capital raised their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.48, for a total value of $190,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,641,993.92. This trade represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $979,632.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 305,871 shares in the company, valued at $9,500,353.26. This represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,678 shares of company stock worth $2,068,257 in the last quarter. 3.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RNA. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 646.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.33. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.34 and a beta of 0.95.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

Avidity Biosciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the delivery of RNA therapeutics. It develops antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) that are designed to treat diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics. The company's lead product candidate AOC 1001 for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare monogenic muscle disease that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial.