Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.43.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BNTC shares. Baird R W raised Benitec Biopharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L bought 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.98 per share, for a total transaction of $301,971.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,981,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,639,340.50. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Benitec Biopharma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 127.5% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,535 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 65,319 shares in the last quarter. Acuta Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma during the third quarter worth about $274,000. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 422.0% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 8,829,053 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,139,000 after buying an additional 7,137,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Benitec Biopharma by 269.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,939,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,123,000 after buying an additional 2,142,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of Benitec Biopharma stock opened at $14.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.38 and a 200-day moving average of $10.67. Benitec Biopharma has a 52-week low of $4.75 and a 52-week high of $15.29. The stock has a market cap of $351.06 million, a PE ratio of -9.91 and a beta of 0.92.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.19. Equities research analysts predict that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Benitec Biopharma

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.