Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.42.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 2.7%

RNA opened at $13.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.38 million, a P/E ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.90. Avidity Biosciences has a 12-month low of $11.95 and a 12-month high of $16.77.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 anticipate that Avidity Biosciences will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Avidity Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $435,708,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 30,032.5% in the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 6,026,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $434,691,000 after purchasing an additional 6,006,500 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $314,847,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $575,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,736,000.

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.