Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) CEO Sarah Boyce Sells 14,387 Shares of Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) CEO Sarah Boyce sold 14,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total value of $1,042,338.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 269,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,489,557.15. This represents a 5.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Sarah Boyce also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 7th, Sarah Boyce sold 8,576 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $619,444.48.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ RNA opened at $72.60 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.51 and a fifty-two week high of $72.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.88 and a 200-day moving average of $55.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.37 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 4.8% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,316 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 157.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 45,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 28,055 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,261,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 19,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Avidity Biosciences by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 580,275 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,480,000 after purchasing an additional 139,473 shares in the last quarter.

Key Avidity Biosciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Avidity Biosciences this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sarah Boyce sold 14,387 shares for ~$1.04M (a 5.08% reduction in her holding). CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 4,542 shares for ~$329k (a 7.12% reduction). CFO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 6,534 shares for ~$473k (a 7.13% reduction). Insider Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Steven George Hughes sold 4,895 shares for ~$355k (a 13.41% reduction). Insider Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Teresa McCarthy sold 2,929 shares for ~$212k (a 2.51% reduction). Insider Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Director Arthur A. Levin sold 1,758 shares for ~$127k (a 9.60% reduction). Director Form 4

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Loop Capital set a $72.00 price objective on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.57.

About Avidity Biosciences

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.