Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Earns Strong-Buy Rating from Analysts at Raymond James

Analysts at Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “strong-buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 102.24% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on RNA. 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 for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Chardan Capital upped their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

RNA stock opened at $32.14 on Wednesday. Avidity Biosciences has a one year low of $21.51 and a one year high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.16 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.26.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $9,500,353.26. This represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 20,000 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.88, for a total transaction of $657,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,195 shares in the company, valued at $2,636,811.60. This trade represents a 19.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,678 shares of company stock worth $2,725,857. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNA. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 0.8% in the first quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 55,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 9.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 7,026 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during 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.