bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.14.

BLUE has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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 research note on Friday, November 15th.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

Shares of BLUE opened at $8.46 on Friday. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $5.80 and a 1-year high of $38.40. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.52 and a beta of 0.68.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 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 worth $675,000 after buying an additional 111,574 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 59,219 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,144 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 74,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 186,903 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.