Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Decreases By 6.6%

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,013,144 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in bluebird bio by 2,270.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 371,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 355,562 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of bluebird bio by 273.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 252,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 184,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 166,771 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Stock Down 9.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLUE traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.03. 403,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,134. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $68.35 million, a PE ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.14. bluebird bio has a twelve month low of $5.80 and a twelve month high of $38.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on bluebird bio in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, bluebird bio presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

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.