bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Short Interest Down 6.6% in January

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in 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. Currently, 25.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 405,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

bluebird bio Stock Performance

Shares of bluebird bio stock traded down $0.72 on Monday, reaching $7.03. 403,812 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 198,134. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.14. The firm has a market cap of $68.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 0.68. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $5.80 and a 1-year high of $38.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of bluebird bio in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in bluebird bio by 152.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in bluebird bio by 48.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 237,648 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 77,293 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of bluebird bio by 273.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 252,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 184,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 355,562 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.