bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE – Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decline of 94.8% from the November 30th total of 49,570,000 shares. Approximately 26.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 418,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of bluebird bio by 315.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,144 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in bluebird bio by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 111,574 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in bluebird bio by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 59,219 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 74,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new position in shares of bluebird bio during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on bluebird bio from $60.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, bluebird bio has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

View Our Latest Analysis on bluebird bio

bluebird bio Price Performance

NASDAQ:BLUE traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $8.76. 258,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,165. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $5.80 and a 1-year high of $38.40. The stock has a market cap of $85.16 million, a P/E ratio of -4.68 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.41 and its 200-day moving average is $13.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($8.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($8.00) by ($0.40). bluebird bio had a negative net margin of 565.74% and a negative return on equity of 322.46%. The company had revenue of $16.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.09 million. Equities research analysts expect that bluebird bio will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

bluebird bio Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

bluebird bio, Inc, a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.

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