Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.6667.

BNTC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Monday, March 9th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Benitec Biopharma news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 77,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.44 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,081.28. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,700,195 shares in the company, valued at $130,370,620.80. This trade represents a 0.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BNTC. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 11,548,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $155,556,000 after buying an additional 1,671,845 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,120,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,565,000 after buying an additional 148,148 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Benitec Biopharma in the fourth quarter worth $24,920,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,371 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,987,000 after acquiring an additional 200,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 992,114 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,919,000 after acquiring an additional 22,948 shares during the last quarter. 52.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Benitec Biopharma Price Performance

Shares of BNTC opened at $10.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $367.55 million, a PE ratio of -9.39 and a beta of 0.31. Benitec Biopharma has a one year low of $9.85 and a one year high of $17.15.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.03). Analysts expect that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Benitec Biopharma Company Profile

Benitec Biopharma Ltd (NASDAQ: BNTC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene-silencing therapies for serious human diseases. The company’s proprietary DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi) platform is designed to enable sustained expression of small RNA molecules that specifically target and silence disease-causing genes. By integrating RNAi sequences directly into DNA constructs, ddRNAi aims to provide a long-term therapeutic effect from a single administration.

Benitec’s lead programs include development of ddRNAi candidates for chronic hepatitis B virus infection and for certain ocular conditions.