Insider Selling: Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Insider Sells $354,642.75 in Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) insider Steven George Hughes sold 4,895 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total transaction of $354,642.75. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,347.55. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Steven George Hughes also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 7th, Steven George Hughes sold 2,373 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $171,401.79.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $72.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of -17.37 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.10. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $72.74.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released 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 net margin of 2,634.59% and a negative return on equity of 37.70%. The business had revenue of $12.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Roth Mkm cut Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Chardan Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Avidity Biosciences

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

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

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

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.