Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 7,583,412 Shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 52.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,939,503 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 7,583,412 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 4.48% of Avidity Biosciences worth $500,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,649,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $984,520,000 after acquiring an additional 429,491 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 8.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,065,187 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $438,540,000 after acquiring an additional 815,497 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 18.9% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,641,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $376,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375,000 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 8.4% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at $435,708,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.25.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of RNA stock opened at $12.48 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.04 and its 200-day moving average is $40.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.48 million, a PE ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.93. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.40 and a 52 week high of $16.77.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

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.