Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) Receives $27.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.80.

BNTC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Evercore assumed coverage on Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Up 3.8%

BNTC opened at $12.15 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.81. Benitec Biopharma has a 52 week low of $9.85 and a 52 week high of $16.76. The stock has a market cap of $417.35 million, a PE ratio of -10.66 and a beta of 0.28.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.03. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNTC. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 11,548,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $155,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671,845 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,120,672 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,565,000 after buying an additional 148,148 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,920,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,371 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,987,000 after buying an additional 200,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 992,114 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,919,000 after buying an additional 22,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

About Benitec Biopharma

Benitec Biopharma Ltd (NASDAQ: BNTC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene-silencing therapies for serious human diseases. The company’s proprietary DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi) platform is designed to enable sustained expression of small RNA molecules that specifically target and silence disease-causing genes. By integrating RNAi sequences directly into DNA constructs, ddRNAi aims to provide a long-term therapeutic effect from a single administration.

Benitec’s lead programs include development of ddRNAi candidates for chronic hepatitis B virus infection and for certain ocular conditions.