SG Americas Securities LLC Invests $516,000 in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,490 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $386,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,431,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $274,280,000 after acquiring an additional 205,027 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 363,017 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $10,557,000 after acquiring an additional 59,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at $5,784,000.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RNA traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,350,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,540. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.57 and a 200-day moving average of $30.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 0.95. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.51 and a 12-month high of $56.00.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 26.96% and a negative net margin of 4,136.00%. As a group, analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 911 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.24, for a total value of $27,548.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,523,854.08. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 20,000 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.88, for a total transaction of $657,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 80,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,636,811.60. The trade was a 19.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,536 shares of company stock valued at $1,229,820 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Chardan Capital increased their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $65.59.

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.