Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Has $83,000 Position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,684,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $285,888,000 after buying an additional 1,578,459 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,261,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $22,765,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the first quarter worth about $15,498,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the first quarter worth about $12,729,000.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:RNA opened at $70.75 on Monday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $71.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.93 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.46.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. HC Wainwright lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $72.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, August 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Troy Edward Wilson sold 29,500 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $1,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 54,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,721,250. This trade represents a 35.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.15, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 97,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,871,069.50. This trade represents a 17.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 117,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,785,735. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.