Sculptor Capital LP Buys Shares of 566,000 Avidity Biosciences, Inc. $RNA

Sculptor Capital LP bought a new stake in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 566,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,826,000. Sculptor Capital LP owned about 0.37% of Avidity Biosciences as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Avidity Biosciences by 15,331.6% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 868,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,623,000 after acquiring an additional 873,900 shares during the last quarter. Yakira Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,839,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. P Schoenfeld Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $6,109,000. Finally, Maven Securities LTD lifted its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Maven Securities LTD now owns 95,055 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,856,000 after buying an additional 35,055 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avidity Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avidity Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.29.

Avidity Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Avidity Biosciences stock opened at $12.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.10 million, a PE ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.19. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.40 and a 52-week high of $16.77.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $19.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 3,650.39% and a negative return on equity of 44.92%. Analysts predict that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avidity Biosciences Company Profile

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.