Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. Boosts Holdings in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 57.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 983,125 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 358,125 shares during the period. Avidity Biosciences accounts for approximately 1.9% of Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P.’s holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $70,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 899,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,194,000 after acquiring an additional 319,282 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 179,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,545 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 304,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,971,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Avidity Biosciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $632,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.29.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $12.37 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.40 and a 1 year high of $16.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.81. The company has a market cap of $211.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 0.93.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 3,650.39% and a negative return on equity of 44.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Avidity Biosciences 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.