Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) Director Purchases $220,551.60 in Stock

Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 16,836 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.10 per share, with a total value of $220,551.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,634,395 shares in the company, valued at $126,210,574.50. This represents a 0.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Suvretta Capital Management, L also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 29th, Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 77,387 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.44 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,081.28.
• On Tuesday, December 23rd, Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 50,000 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $642,500.00.
• On Monday, December 22nd, Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 19,542 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.08 per share, with a total value of $236,067.36.
• On Friday, December 19th, Suvretta Capital Management, L purchased 16,384 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.48 per share, with a total value of $188,088.32.
• On Thursday, December 18th, Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 10,215 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.24 per share, with a total value of $114,816.60.
• On Friday, November 7th, Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 1,481,481 shares of Benitec Biopharma stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.50 per share, for a total transaction of $19,999,993.50.

Benitec Biopharma Trading Up 3.0%

Benitec Biopharma stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $13.49. The stock had a trading volume of 200,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,420. Benitec Biopharma Limited has a one year low of $9.70 and a one year high of $17.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.77 million, a P/E ratio of -11.15 and a beta of 0.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.55 and its 200 day moving average is $13.36.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.13. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Benitec Biopharma Limited will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infinitum Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 435.7% during the 1st quarter. Infinitum Asset Management LLC now owns 1,125,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,636,000 after purchasing an additional 915,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 22,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 77.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 415,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after buying an additional 181,391 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 40.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 154,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 44,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 35.2% during the first quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 137,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 35,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BNTC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Benitec Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. JMP Securities set a $22.00 target price on Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. HC Wainwright set a $32.00 price target on shares of Benitec Biopharma and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $35.00) on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Benitec Biopharma currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.25.

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.