Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA - Free Report) by 134.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,817 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,497 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 7.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,429,107 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $189,592,000 after acquiring an additional 516,446 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 132.1% in the first quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,825,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $148,654,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,000 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 33.7% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,282,180 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $83,761,000 after acquiring an additional 827,647 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 4,661.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,242,833 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $31,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,730 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the first quarter worth about $15,467,000.

Avidity Biosciences Trading Down 2.6 %

Avidity Biosciences stock traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.48. The company had a trading volume of 4,998,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,889. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.82 and a 12-month high of $48.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.08 and a beta of 0.89. The company's fifty day moving average is $43.81 and its 200-day moving average is $34.09.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.76) by $0.11. Avidity Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 32.89% and a negative net margin of 2,381.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Avidity Biosciences from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $63.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $61.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avidity Biosciences

In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total value of $1,118,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 205,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,187,366.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Avidity Biosciences news, CEO Sarah Boyce sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total value of $1,118,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 205,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,187,366.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur A. Levin sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total value of $225,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at $670,167.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,000 shares of company stock worth $3,011,490. Corporate insiders own 3.68% of the company's stock.

Avidity Biosciences Company 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.