Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 2.7%, acquiring 295,275 shares to hold approximately 9.41% of the company, valued at $334.7 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their holdings in Avidity Biosciences, with some like TD Waterhouse boosting their position by 646.3%.
• Avidity Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" among analysts, with price targets ranging from $57.00 to $96.00.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,338,098 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 295,275 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 9.41% of Avidity Biosciences worth $334,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RNA. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Avidity Biosciences by 273.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 16,726 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 12,253 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 8,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,427 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 110.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 86,395 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 45,254 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 674,256 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,608,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avidity Biosciences news, Director Troy Edward Wilson sold 65,554 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $2,949,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,776 shares in the company, valued at $799,920. The trade was a 78.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 2,208 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.40, for a total value of $102,451.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,803,428.80. This trade represents a 5.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 456,034 shares of company stock valued at $20,165,737. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RNA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Avidity Biosciences to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seventeen have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of RNA traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,399,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,797. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.51 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of -13.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $36.29 and its 200 day moving average is $32.36.

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.