Arthur Levin Sells 1,758 Shares of Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) Director Arthur Levin sold 1,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.45, for a total value of $127,367.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,562 shares in the company, valued at $1,199,916.90. This represents a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Down 0.2%

RNA stock opened at $72.60 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $72.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.37 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.92.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $12.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 37.70% and a negative net margin of 2,634.59%.The company’s revenue was up 420.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Avidity Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 42.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,219,759 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $575,985,000 after buying an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 8.8% during 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 in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $376,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375,000 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 595,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,847,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,893,000 after purchasing an additional 92,719 shares in the last quarter.

Avidity Biosciences News Roundup

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

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.