Leerink Partnrs Downgrades Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) to Hold

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) was downgraded by Leerink Partnrs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Avidity Biosciences to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Roth Capital cut Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Up 42.4%

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $70.00 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.38. Avidity Biosciences has a 12-month low of $21.51 and a 12-month high of $70.51. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.66 and a beta of 0.97.

Insider Activity at Avidity Biosciences

In other news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.95, for a total value of $2,497,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,278,256.45. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 81,434 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $3,480,489.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,175.58. This trade represents a 67.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 571,478 shares of company stock worth $26,310,254 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

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

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.