Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 1,131,129 Shares of Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC - Free Report) by 134.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,972,524 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,131,129 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 8.49% of Benitec Biopharma worth $24,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MYDA Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Benitec Biopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $632,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,987 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 20,012 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 269.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,939,287 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142,643 shares in the last quarter. 52.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 900,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.00 per share, for a total transaction of $11,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,793,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,312,185. This represents a 11.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Monday, March 24th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Benitec Biopharma from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.71.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ BNTC traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $13.68. The company had a trading volume of 11,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,114. The firm's 50 day moving average is $13.15 and its 200-day moving average is $11.73. Benitec Biopharma Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.74 and a 1-year high of $16.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.81 million, a P/E ratio of -9.06 and a beta of 0.76.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.19. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Benitec Biopharma Inc. will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Benitec Biopharma Profile

Benitec Biopharma Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of novel genetic medicines. The company develops DNA-directed RNA interference-based therapeutics for chronic and life-threatening human conditions. It is developing BB-301, an adeno-associated virus based gene therapy agent for treating oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.