Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Grows By 20.0%

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 49,370,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the August 15th total of 41,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.8 days.

bluebird bio Trading Up 5.5 %

BLUE stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $0.61. 6,739,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,752,763. bluebird bio has a 12 month low of $0.52 and a 12 month high of $5.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.24 million, a P/E ratio of -0.82 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.02.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,144 shares in the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new stake in bluebird bio during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in bluebird bio by 25.4% in the 2nd 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of bluebird bio by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of bluebird bio during the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered bluebird bio from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on bluebird bio from $8.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.74.

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.