Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) Share Price Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Benitec Biopharma Limited (NASDAQ:BNTC) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.08 and traded as low as $9.65. Benitec Biopharma shares last traded at $9.75, with a volume of 110,967 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Guggenheim cut Benitec Biopharma from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Benitec Biopharma to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Benitec Biopharma from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Benitec Biopharma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.78 and a beta of 0.27.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26). Equities analysts forecast that Benitec Biopharma Limited will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,961 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,376 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 37.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 11,877 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the first quarter worth $186,000. Finally, Empery Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the fourth quarter worth $747,000. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

About Benitec Biopharma

Benitec Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:BNTC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing genetic medicines based on DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi). The company’s technology is designed to enable long-lasting suppression of disease-causing genes by delivering genetic instructions that produce RNA interference molecules within targeted cells.

Benitec’s lead product candidate is BB-301, an investigational gene therapy being developed for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy type 1 (OPMD), a rare inherited disorder that can cause progressive weakness of the muscles involved in swallowing and eye movement.