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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BLUE shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Bank of America cut shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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 target price on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on bluebird bio in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, bluebird bio presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in bluebird bio by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 166,771 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 43,382 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in bluebird bio by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 186,903 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in bluebird bio by 315.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,144 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in bluebird bio by 2,270.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 371,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 355,562 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

bluebird bio Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of bluebird bio stock traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $7.03. 403,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,134. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 0.68. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $8.31 and a 200-day moving average of $11.14. bluebird bio has a 52-week low of $5.80 and a 52-week high of $38.40.

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.