Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

BNTC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on Benitec Biopharma from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright set a $32.00 target price on Benitec Biopharma and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. JMP Securities set a $22.00 price target on Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.25.

Benitec Biopharma Price Performance

Shares of Benitec Biopharma stock opened at $10.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.18. Benitec Biopharma has a 12 month low of $9.80 and a 12 month high of $17.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 0.26.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.03). Analysts anticipate that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Benitec Biopharma news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 77,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.44 per share, with a total value of $1,040,081.28. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,700,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,370,620.80. The trade was a 0.80% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 190,364 shares of company stock worth $2,442,105 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Benitec Biopharma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the second quarter worth about $95,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 11,114.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 20,672 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the first quarter worth $597,000. Finally, Empery Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth $747,000. 52.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Benitec Biopharma

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.