W. Michael Flanagan Sells 2,373 Shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 2,373 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $171,401.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 91,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,618,218.21. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of Avidity Biosciences stock remained flat at $72.37 during trading on Friday. 1,122,166 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,547,569. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $72.61. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.43.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $12.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,634.59% and a negative return on equity of 37.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $93,800,000. RA Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 18.9% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,641,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $376,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375,000 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 58.0% in the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,796,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $121,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,373 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the second quarter worth $28,261,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on RNA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs cut Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wolfe Research lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.57.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

Avidity Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) therapies designed to address serious neuromuscular and cardiac diseases. The company’s proprietary AOC platform combines the targeting specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the gene-modulating power of oligonucleotides to deliver therapeutic agents directly into muscle cells. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, Avidity seeks to overcome traditional delivery challenges associated with RNA-based medicines by leveraging receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms.

The company’s lead product candidate, AOC 1001, is in clinical development for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and represents the first application of the AOC platform in a human study.