Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $640,000 in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the third quarter worth $27,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 217.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 99.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,474 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,568 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 7,935 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $246,461.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 96,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,123.20. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur A. Levin sold 1,872 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.60, for a total transaction of $53,539.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $370,598.80. This represents a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,443 shares of company stock valued at $2,241,889. Company insiders own 3.68% of the company’s stock.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of RNA stock opened at $30.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.71 and a beta of 1.02. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.49.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.04). Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. The business had revenue of $2.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Avidity Biosciences Profile

Avidity Biosciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the delivery of RNA therapeutics. It develops antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) that are designed to treat diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics. The company's lead product candidate AOC 1001 for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare monogenic muscle disease that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial.