Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $21.51 and last traded at $24.80, with a volume of 3598453 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RNA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.69.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.61 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.06.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 27.66% and a negative net margin of 2,772.45%. Equities analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avidity Biosciences

In related news, insider Kathleen P. Gallagher sold 5,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.83, for a total transaction of $163,501.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,917.82. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven George Hughes sold 9,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.06, for a total value of $297,492.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 72,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,262,721. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,318 shares of company stock worth $2,405,390 in the last three months. 3.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avidity Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 28,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 164,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,864,000 after buying an additional 10,973 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 3,267.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 66,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 64,304 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,552 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 7,148 shares during the period.

About Avidity Biosciences

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.