bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Short Interest Update

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a decrease of 94.8% from the November 30th total of 49,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 418,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 26.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLUE. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after buying an additional 166,771 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in bluebird bio by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 43,382 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in bluebird bio by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 186,903 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in bluebird bio by 315.3% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 19.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

Shares of BLUE stock remained flat at $8.78 during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 250,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,994. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.31. bluebird bio has a one year low of $5.80 and a one year high of $38.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.70 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, September 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($8.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($8.00) by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $16.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.09 million. bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 322.46% and a negative net margin of 565.74%. Analysts forecast that bluebird bio will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLUE shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $60.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.14.

bluebird bio Company Profile

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.