Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Earns Buy Rating from Chardan Capital

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Chardan Capital in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Chardan Capital’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 106.48% from the company’s current price.

RNA has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.69.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Avidity Biosciences stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $31.48. The company had a trading volume of 98,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,309,781. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.83. Avidity Biosciences has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. Analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avidity Biosciences

In related news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,040,384.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,664,959.28. This trade represents a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur A. Levin sold 1,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.60, for a total transaction of $53,539.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at $370,598.80. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,138 shares of company stock worth $2,539,032 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RNA. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the third quarter worth $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 646.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $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.