Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Coverage Initiated at Raymond James

Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a strong-buy rating and a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RNA. Chardan Capital raised their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Down 2.4%

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $31.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.89 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.99 and a 200-day moving average of $31.17. Avidity Biosciences has a 52 week low of $21.51 and a 52 week high of $56.00.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.90) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $979,632.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 305,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,500,353.26. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 9,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $2,262,721. This trade represents a 11.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,678 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,857 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RNA. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 646.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at $73,000.

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.