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

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 49,570,000 shares, a growth of 13.6% from the November 15th total of 43,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLUE shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on bluebird bio in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. lowered shares of bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of bluebird bio by 113.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 29,113 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in bluebird bio by 25.4% in the second 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 boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 152.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 74,185 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

bluebird bio Trading Down 16.6 %

NASDAQ BLUE traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 720,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,291. bluebird bio has a twelve month low of $5.80 and a twelve month 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.68 and a 200 day moving average of $13.96.

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

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.