Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) Shares Cross Below 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.14 and traded as low as $8.00. Benitec Biopharma shares last traded at $8.36, with a volume of 194,119 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BNTC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Benitec Biopharma to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Down 6.0%

The firm has a market cap of $296.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.67 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.73.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.26). Equities analysts forecast that Benitec Biopharma Limited will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Benitec Biopharma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 18.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,961 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 43.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma during the first quarter worth approximately $186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 37.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 11,877 shares during the period. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,515,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Benitec Biopharma Company Profile

Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing genetic medicines for chronic and potentially life-threatening diseases. The company’s work is based on DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi), a gene-silencing technology designed to produce sustained suppression of disease-causing genes within targeted cells.

Benitec’s lead investigational product is BB-301, an adeno-associated virus gene therapy being developed for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), a rare inherited disorder that can cause progressive difficulty swallowing and weakness of the eyelid and throat muscles.