Lion Point Capital LP Acquires 23,000 Shares of Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC)

Lion Point Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) by 59.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,000 shares during the period. Benitec Biopharma comprises 4.1% of Lion Point Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Lion Point Capital LP’s holdings in Benitec Biopharma were worth $783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNTC. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 269.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,939,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142,643 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 134.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 197,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 113,109 shares in the last quarter. MYDA Advisors LLC bought a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the 4th quarter worth about $632,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 134.4% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,972,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 38,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 13,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Benitec Biopharma

In other news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 900,000 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,700,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,793,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,312,185. The trade was a 11.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BNTC shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Monday, March 24th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Benitec Biopharma from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.71.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BNTC opened at $13.75 on Monday. Benitec Biopharma Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.74 and a 52-week high of $16.90. The company has a market capitalization of $322.45 million, a P/E ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.94.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.19. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Benitec Biopharma Inc. will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Benitec Biopharma Profile

Benitec Biopharma Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of novel genetic medicines. The company develops DNA-directed RNA interference-based therapeutics for chronic and life-threatening human conditions. It is developing BB-301, an adeno-associated virus based gene therapy agent for treating oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.