Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on RNA. Bank of America raised their target price on Avidity Biosciences from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Raymond James Financial cut Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.57.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of RNA stock opened at $72.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.26 and a beta of 0.90. Avidity Biosciences has a 52 week low of $21.51 and a 52 week high of $72.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven George Hughes sold 2,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.54, for a total value of $105,015.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,737.18. This trade represents a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Teresa Mccarthy sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.15, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 97,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,871,069.50. This represents a 17.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,979 shares of company stock worth $1,495,400 in the last quarter. 3.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,338,098 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $334,701,000 after buying an additional 295,275 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,065,187 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $438,540,000 after acquiring an additional 815,497 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,641,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $376,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,645,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $333,093,000 after acquiring an additional 595,000 shares in the last quarter.

About Avidity Biosciences

Avidity Biosciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the delivery of RNA therapeutics. It develops antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) that are designed to treat diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics. The company's lead product candidate AOC 1001 for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare monogenic muscle disease that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial.