Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Increases By 13.6%

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 49,570,000 shares, an increase of 13.6% from the November 15th total of 43,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 113.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 29,113 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in bluebird bio by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 111,574 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in bluebird bio by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 59,219 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised 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 buying an additional 74,185 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLUE traded down $1.26 on Friday, hitting $6.34. 720,970 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,291. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.11. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $5.80 and a 1-year high of $71.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.39 and a beta of 0.72.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($7.20) earnings per share for the quarter. bluebird bio had a negative net margin of 565.74% and a negative return on equity of 322.46%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that bluebird bio will post -1.35 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLUE. Barclays decreased their price objective on bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lowered bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

About bluebird bio

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.