Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New $395,000 Investment in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 13,577 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $386,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 30.1% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 539,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,766,000 after acquiring an additional 124,867 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 24.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,182 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,479,000 after acquiring an additional 197,065 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 16.7% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,300,408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $289,378,000 after purchasing an additional 900,000 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 4.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,848,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $773,864,000 after purchasing an additional 689,729 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RNA. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.69.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Up 1.6 %

RNA stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of -11.31 and a beta of 1.02. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.56 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.48 and a 200 day moving average of $37.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In related news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 10,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.59, for a total transaction of $297,250.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 337,411 shares in the company, valued at $9,646,580.49. The trade was a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 2,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.59, for a total transaction of $84,597.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,999,319.72. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,443 shares of company stock worth $2,241,889. 3.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avidity Biosciences 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.