Athos Capital Ltd Takes Position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Athos Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 184,564 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,313,000. Avidity Biosciences makes up 5.1% of Athos Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 899,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,194,000 after acquiring an additional 319,282 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 173.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 179,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,545 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 304,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $632,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,971,457 shares in the last quarter.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Up 6.5%

Shares of Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $12.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.63 million, a PE ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.01. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.40 and a 12 month high of $16.77.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 44.92% and a negative net margin of 3,650.39%. As a group, analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.29.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

Avidity Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) therapies designed to address serious neuromuscular and cardiac diseases. The company’s proprietary AOC platform combines the targeting specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the gene-modulating power of oligonucleotides to deliver therapeutic agents directly into muscle cells. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, Avidity seeks to overcome traditional delivery challenges associated with RNA-based medicines by leveraging receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms.

The company’s lead product candidate, AOC 1001, is in clinical development for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and represents the first application of the AOC platform in a human study.