Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $60.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

RNA has been the subject of several other reports. Chardan Capital raised their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $54.83.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

RNA opened at $44.98 on Tuesday. Avidity Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.80. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.25 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.09.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.09 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 40.96% and a negative net margin of 2,381.82%. As a group, analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences will post -3.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.42, for a total value of $767,760.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,248.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur A. Levin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total value of $225,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,498.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.42, for a total value of $767,760.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,248.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 407,478 shares of company stock valued at $15,370,990 over the last three months. 3.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RNA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,429,107 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $189,592,000 after acquiring an additional 516,446 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 11.7% in the second quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,505,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $265,729,000 after purchasing an additional 680,000 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Avidity Biosciences by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,282,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $83,761,000 after purchasing an additional 827,647 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Avidity Biosciences by 4,661.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,242,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 2,263.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 739,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,190,000 after buying an additional 707,773 shares during the period.

About Avidity Biosciences

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.