Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA Shares Acquired by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 487,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,144 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $21,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 3.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,847,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,893,000 after acquiring an additional 92,719 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 16.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,839,315 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,237,000 after purchasing an additional 264,827 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the second quarter valued at $28,261,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 784,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,164,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 781,908 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,206,000 after purchasing an additional 9,608 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on RNA. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore set a $72.00 target price on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wolfe Research lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.57.

Insider Activity

In other Avidity Biosciences news, insider Charles Calderaro III sold 3,727 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $269,201.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 49,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,596,837.31. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 4,895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total transaction of $354,642.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,347.55. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 58,407 shares of company stock valued at $4,226,448 over the last three months. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $72.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.44 and a beta of 0.93. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.51 and a fifty-two week high of $73.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.16.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($0.22). Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 37.70% and a negative net margin of 2,634.59%.The firm had revenue of $12.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 million. The firm’s revenue was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Avidity Biosciences Profile

Avidity Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) therapies designed to address serious neuromuscular and cardiac diseases. The company’s proprietary AOC platform combines the targeting specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the gene-modulating power of oligonucleotides to deliver therapeutic agents directly into muscle cells. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, Avidity seeks to overcome traditional delivery challenges associated with RNA-based medicines by leveraging receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms.

The company’s lead product candidate, AOC 1001, is in clinical development for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and represents the first application of the AOC platform in a human study.