TD Cowen Downgrades Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) to Hold

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) was downgraded by stock analysts at TD Cowen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $74.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $78.00. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.18% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Cowen lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.24.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RNA opened at $69.69 on Wednesday. Avidity Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $21.51 and a fifty-two week high of $70.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.23. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of -19.58 and a beta of 0.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.95, for a total value of $2,497,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 305,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,278,256.45. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.15, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 97,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,871,069.50. The trade was a 17.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 571,478 shares of company stock worth $26,310,254 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 291.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 11,594 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,055 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 366,594 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,822,000 after purchasing an additional 3,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,265 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 36,133 shares during the last quarter.

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.