bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Shares Up 15.3% – What’s Next?

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE)’s stock price was up 15.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $7.33 and last traded at $7.31. Approximately 510,899 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 31% from the average daily volume of 388,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BLUE shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, bluebird bio currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $81.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.50 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.82.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLUE. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% during 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after buying an additional 43,382 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 8.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 186,903 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,013,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 19.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 111,574 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.