Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Price Target Raised to $54.00

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) had its target price hoisted by Bank of America from $48.00 to $54.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Chardan Capital upped their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.33.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

RNA stock opened at $32.01 on Monday. Avidity Biosciences has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.11 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,540 shares of the company’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 $979,632.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 305,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,500,353.26. This represents a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 7,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $246,461.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,004,123.20. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,678 shares of company stock valued at $2,068,257 over the last 90 days. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $386,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 205,027 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $10,557,000 after acquiring an additional 59,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,784,000.

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.