Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 96.85% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.69.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RNA opened at $30.48 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.67. Avidity Biosciences has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The company has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of -10.58 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avidity Biosciences news, Director Arthur A. Levin sold 1,872 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.60, for a total value of $53,539.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,598.80. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $188,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,625,816.64. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,390 shares of company stock worth $718,303. 3.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 4.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,848,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $773,864,000 after purchasing an additional 689,729 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,042,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $321,127,000 after purchasing an additional 408,861 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 2.2% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,106,097 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $235,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $218,100,000 after acquiring an additional 625,000 shares in the last quarter.

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.