Traders Purchase High Volume of Avidity Biosciences Put Options (NASDAQ:RNA)

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 9,017 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,083% compared to the average daily volume of 413 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.83, for a total transaction of $163,501.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,917.82. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 9,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total transaction of $297,492.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,262,721. This represents a 11.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,803 shares of company stock worth $1,877,437 in the last 90 days. 3.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RNA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,338,098 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $334,701,000 after purchasing an additional 295,275 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,684,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $285,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,459 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,431,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $274,280,000 after buying an additional 205,027 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $218,100,000 after buying an additional 625,000 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,053,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $205,134,000 after buying an additional 2,156,844 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on RNA shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.38.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Down 3.2%

RNA traded down $0.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.39. 399,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,433,845. Avidity Biosciences has a 52 week low of $21.51 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.22 and a 200 day moving average of $32.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.