Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $25.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on RNA. Evercore set a $72.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Chardan Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.79.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $14.80 on Wednesday. Avidity Biosciences has a one year low of $13.81 and a one year high of $16.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.11.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($1.59) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.24) by ($0.35). Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 3,650.39% and a negative return on equity of 44.92%. The company had revenue of $0.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other news, insider Steven George Hughes sold 4,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total transaction of $354,642.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,599 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,347.55. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 14,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total transaction of $1,042,338.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 269,007 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,557.15. This represents a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 58,407 shares of company stock valued at $4,226,448 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,708,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 30,032.5% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 6,026,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $434,691,000 after buying an additional 6,006,500 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $314,847,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,736,000.

Avidity Biosciences Company 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.