HC Wainwright Initiates Coverage on Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC)

HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $28.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BNTC. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Benitec Biopharma from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.43.

Benitec Biopharma Price Performance

NASDAQ BNTC opened at $11.84 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.38. Benitec Biopharma has a 1 year low of $2.69 and a 1 year high of $13.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.88 million, a PE ratio of -4.17 and a beta of 0.88.

Insider Transactions at Benitec Biopharma

In other news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L bought 42,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $403,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,957,365 shares in the company, valued at $76,390,704. This represents a 0.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Benitec Biopharma

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNTC. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Benitec Biopharma in the second quarter worth $5,881,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 127.5% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,535 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 65,319 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $81,139,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137,763 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 20.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Finally, Acuta Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Benitec Biopharma in the third quarter worth $274,000. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

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.