Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.25.

BNTC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $22.00 target price on Benitec Biopharma in a report on Tuesday, November 4th.

Benitec Biopharma Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BNTC stock opened at $12.18 on Friday. Benitec Biopharma has a 12 month low of $9.70 and a 12 month high of $17.15. The company has a market capitalization of $412.44 million, a P/E ratio of -10.07 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.24.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.13. Sell-side analysts predict that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L bought 77,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.44 per share, for a total transaction of $1,040,081.28. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,700,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,370,620.80. The trade was a 0.80% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 1,671,845 shares of company stock worth $22,442,099 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Benitec Biopharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Benitec Biopharma by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 992,114 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,919,000 after purchasing an additional 22,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 77.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 40.5% in 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. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Benitec Biopharma by 458.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 99,941 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 82,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,725 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 9,552 shares during the last quarter. 52.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Benitec Biopharma Company Profile

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.