Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 2,044,316 Shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 118.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,776,785 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,044,316 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 2.44% of Avidity Biosciences worth $272,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RNA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 899,557 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,194,000 after acquiring an additional 319,282 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 487,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,259,000 after acquiring an additional 45,144 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 173.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 179,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,545 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 304,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $632,000.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of RNA opened at $11.80 on Friday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.77 and a 52-week high of $16.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.23 and its 200-day moving average is $43.86. The firm has a market cap of $201.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 0.93.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by $0.08. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 44.92% and a negative net margin of 3,650.39%.The company had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.42.

About Avidity Biosciences

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.