Raymond James Initiates Coverage on Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA)

Stock analysts at Raymond James began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a "strong-buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Raymond James' price target would indicate a potential upside of 103.83% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on RNA. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on Avidity Biosciences from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Chardan Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.33.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:RNA traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.89. The stock had a trading volume of 819,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,464,430. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.07 and a beta of 0.95. Avidity Biosciences has a one year low of $21.51 and a one year high of $56.00.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 31,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $979,632.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 305,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,500,353.26. The trade was a 9.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.83, for a total transaction of $163,501.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 50,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,917.82. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,678 shares of company stock valued at $2,068,257 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RNA. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 646.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000.

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.