Needham & Company LLC Raises Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Price Target to $65.00

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) had its price target increased by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 58.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RNA. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective (up from $59.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Avidity Biosciences to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.28.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RNA opened at $41.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.53 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.59. Avidity Biosciences has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $56.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 50,000 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.95, for a total transaction of $2,497,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,278,256.45. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 2,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.40, for a total value of $102,451.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,803,428.80. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 541,410 shares of company stock worth $24,842,402 in the last three months. 3.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,684,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $285,888,000 after buying an additional 1,578,459 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the second quarter worth $28,261,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the first quarter worth $22,765,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at $15,498,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the 1st quarter worth $12,729,000.

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.