Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 2,137.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 610,547 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 583,256 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $44,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RNA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 38.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,304 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 12,241 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 22.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,837 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 2.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 784,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,164,000 after purchasing an additional 21,649 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 7.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 357,718 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,560,000 after purchasing an additional 25,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Avidity Biosciences during the first quarter worth about $180,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.42.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of RNA opened at $12.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $208.18 million, a P/E ratio of -2.45 and a beta of 0.93. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a one year low of $11.95 and a one year high of $16.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.50.

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

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.