bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,460,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the July 31st total of 15,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.
bluebird bio Price Performance
Shares of bluebird bio stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,201,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,152,172. bluebird bio has a 12 month low of $2.87 and a 12 month high of $25.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.10 and a 200 day moving average of $4.63. The company has a market capitalization of $443.45 million, a PE ratio of -0.71 and a beta of 1.29.
bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.31) by $0.02. bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 130.19% and a negative net margin of 2,141.34%. The company had revenue of $1.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 million. Equities analysts expect that bluebird bio will post -4.59 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity at bluebird bio
In related news, CEO Andrew Obenshain sold 21,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $95,723.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 247,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,905.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other bluebird bio news, insider Jason Cole sold 7,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $32,696.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 203,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $894,418.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Obenshain sold 21,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $95,723.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 247,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,905.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,558 shares of company stock valued at $225,157 in the last 90 days. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 72.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,151,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,787,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534,581 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 198.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,810,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,633,000 after buying an additional 1,870,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,215,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,136,000 after buying an additional 283,213 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 2,199,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,972,000 after buying an additional 195,005 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 37.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,093,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,155,000 after buying an additional 573,073 shares during the period. 78.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on bluebird bio from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 19th. Wedbush dropped their target price on bluebird bio from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 10th. Barclays upgraded bluebird bio from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Friday, August 5th. Raymond James upgraded bluebird bio from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on bluebird bio to $3.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.08.
bluebird bio Company Profile
bluebird bio, Inc, a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes transformative gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include betibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and elivaldogene autotemcel to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.