Insider Selling: Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) CEO Sells 8,576 Shares of Stock

Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) CEO Sarah Boyce sold 8,576 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $619,444.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,469,548.62. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RNA remained flat at $72.37 during trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,122,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,547,569. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $72.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of -17.31 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.43.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $12.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,634.59% and a negative return on equity of 37.70%. Avidity Biosciences’s revenue was up 420.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RNA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Chardan Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Citigroup downgraded Avidity Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.57.

Institutional Trading of Avidity Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,971,457 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,065,187 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $438,540,000 after buying an additional 815,497 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 8.4% in the third quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,645,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $333,093,000 after buying an additional 595,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 3.4% during 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 during the last quarter.

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.