Insider Buying: Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) Director Buys 900,000 Shares of Stock

Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) Director Suvretta Capital Management, L acquired 900,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.00 per share, with a total value of $11,700,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,793,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,312,185. This represents a 11.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Benitec Biopharma stock opened at $13.43 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.12. Benitec Biopharma Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.75 and a 52 week high of $16.90. The company has a market capitalization of $314.95 million, a PE ratio of -8.89 and a beta of 0.92.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.19. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Benitec Biopharma Inc. will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BNTC shares. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Benitec Biopharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.43.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BNTC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Benitec Biopharma by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,987 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 20,012 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 422.0% during 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. Acuta Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the third quarter valued at about $274,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 38,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 13,425 shares during the period. Finally, Infinitum Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Benitec Biopharma during the 4th quarter worth about $2,652,000. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Benitec Biopharma Company Profile

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.