Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Avidity Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNA) by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,040 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,484 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Avidity Biosciences were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 4.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,848,776 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $773,864,000 after acquiring an additional 689,729 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 84.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,030,949 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $322,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228,923 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avidity Biosciences by 11.7% in the second quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,505,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $265,729,000 after purchasing an additional 680,000 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Avidity Biosciences by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,300,408 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $289,378,000 after purchasing an additional 900,000 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Avidity Biosciences by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,896,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,774,000 after buying an additional 1,239,323 shares during the last quarter.

Avidity Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of RNA stock opened at $30.50 on Monday. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.95 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.59 and a beta of 0.99.

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.65) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.14. Avidity Biosciences had a negative net margin of 2,772.45% and a negative return on equity of 27.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.09 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Avidity Biosciences, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avidity Biosciences news, insider W. Michael Flanagan sold 12,742 shares of Avidity Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $416,153.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,372,651.02. The trade was a 14.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael F. Maclean sold 11,151 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $364,191.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,708,885.72. This trade represents a 11.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,071 shares of company stock valued at $6,125,324 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of Avidity Biosciences in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Avidity Biosciences from $56.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Avidity Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avidity Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

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.