Insider Selling: Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) CFO Sells $506,440.00 in Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 11,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $506,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,239,620. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of RNA opened at $45.95 on Thursday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.82 and a twelve month high of $48.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.58 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.69.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.09 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 32.89% and a negative net margin of 2,381.82%. Analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -3.01 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RNA. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 132.1% in the 1st quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,825,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $148,654,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 4,661.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,242,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,730 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 33.7% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,282,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $83,761,000 after purchasing an additional 827,647 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 2,263.7% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 739,039 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,190,000 after purchasing an additional 707,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,467,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RNA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Barclays started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Chardan Capital upped their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.