Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Earns “Buy” Rating from Chardan Capital

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Chardan Capital in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Chardan Capital’s target price suggests a potential upside of 113.25% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.69.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 9.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ RNA opened at $30.48 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.67. Avidity Biosciences has a 52-week low of $21.56 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.58 and a beta of 1.02.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 27.66% and a negative net margin of 2,772.45%. On average, analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other news, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total transaction of $188,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,625,816.64. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 3,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.59, for a total value of $93,975.33. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 104,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,992,086.45. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,390 shares of company stock valued at $718,303. 3.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of RNA. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,030,949 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $322,931,000 after acquiring an additional 3,228,923 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,053,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $205,134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,844 shares in the last quarter. Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth $50,232,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,706,106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $216,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,300,408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $289,378,000 after acquiring an additional 900,000 shares in the last quarter.

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.