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

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the December 15th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 405,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days. Currently, 25.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America cut shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $60.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

bluebird bio Price Performance

Shares of bluebird bio stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 109,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,810. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.23. The company has a market capitalization of $81.16 million, a P/E ratio of -0.22 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. bluebird bio has a 12-month low of $5.80 and a 12-month high of $38.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLUE. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 25.4% during the second 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. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in bluebird bio by 315.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,144 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in bluebird bio by 152.4% in 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, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.