bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE) – Investment analysts at Wedbush cut their Q1 2020 EPS estimates for shares of bluebird bio in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush analyst D. Nierengarten now anticipates that the biotechnology company will earn ($3.75) per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of ($3.59). Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for bluebird bio’s Q2 2020 earnings at ($3.89) EPS, Q3 2020 earnings at ($4.10) EPS, Q4 2020 earnings at ($3.71) EPS, FY2020 earnings at ($15.46) EPS, FY2021 earnings at ($11.29) EPS, FY2022 earnings at ($8.26) EPS and FY2023 earnings at ($1.88) EPS.
Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. BidaskClub lowered shares of bluebird bio from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Canaccord Genuity reduced their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $171.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James lowered shares of bluebird bio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. bluebird bio has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.05.
BLUE stock opened at $80.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 6.22 and a current ratio of 5.15. bluebird bio has a 52 week low of $71.42 and a 52 week high of $163.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.90 and its 200 day moving average is $92.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.60 and a beta of 2.44.
bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The biotechnology company reported ($4.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($3.79) by ($0.25). bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 51.23% and a negative net margin of 1,767.49%. The company had revenue of $10.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($2.72) EPS. bluebird bio’s quarterly revenue was down 47.9% on a year-over-year basis.
In other bluebird bio news, insider Alison Cecily Finger sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $43,924.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nick Leschly sold 10,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.97, for a total transaction of $914,365.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,102,378.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,981 shares of company stock valued at $1,356,501 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLUE. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its position in bluebird bio by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 3,176,644 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $278,751,000 after buying an additional 996,481 shares during the period. Casdin Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Casdin Capital LLC now owns 970,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,118,000 after purchasing an additional 357,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,521,230 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $133,488,000 after purchasing an additional 216,992 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,851,410 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $162,462,000 after purchasing an additional 145,519 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 566,412 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $49,703,000 after purchasing an additional 127,834 shares during the period.
About bluebird bio
bluebird bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing transformative gene therapies for severe genetic diseases and cancer. Its product candidates in severe genetic diseases include LentiGlobin, which is in various clinical studies for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease; and Lenti-D that is in Phase II/III clinical trials for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare hereditary neurological disorder.