Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stake in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,296 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 7.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 164,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,864,000 after acquiring an additional 10,973 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 41,389 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 13,189 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 47.3% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 272,279 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,038,000 after buying an additional 87,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 19.5% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 19,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on RNA shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.24.

Insider Transactions at Avidity Biosciences

In related news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.95, for a total value of $2,497,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,278,256.45. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric Mosbrooker sold 6,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.07, for a total value of $308,920.41. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 55,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,588,850. This trade represents a 10.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 154,438 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,537 in the last ninety days. 3.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $69.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.09. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.62 and a beta of 0.97. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.51 and a 1-year high of $70.51.

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.