Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Earns Strong-Buy Rating from Analysts at Raymond James

Raymond James started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating and a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

RNA has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $32.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.35. Avidity Biosciences has a one year low of $21.51 and a one year high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.11 and a beta of 0.95.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.90) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven George Hughes sold 9,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $297,492.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,262,721. The trade was a 11.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.48, for a total transaction of $190,820.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,641,993.92. This trade represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,678 shares of company stock valued at $2,068,257 in the last 90 days. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $386,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,431,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $274,280,000 after buying an additional 205,027 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 363,017 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,557,000 after buying an additional 59,295 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter valued at $5,784,000.

Avidity Biosciences Company 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.