Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Stock Price Up 14.4% – Still a Buy?

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) was up 14.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $3.24 and last traded at $3.2950. Approximately 1,740,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 2,018,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EDIT shares. Chardan Capital raised their target price on shares of Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Editas Medicine from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Editas Medicine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 9.5%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.68. The company has a market cap of $484.54 million, a PE ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 2.14.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $11.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 million. Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 157.32% and a negative return on equity of 196.63%. On average, research analysts predict that Editas Medicine, Inc. will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Editas Medicine

In related news, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 15,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.70, for a total value of $41,526.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 248,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,445.10. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,503 shares of company stock valued at $57,910. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Editas Medicine

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EDIT. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Editas Medicine during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Editas Medicine during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 71.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Editas Medicine Company Profile

Editas Medicine is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on translating the power of gene editing into a new class of transformative genomic medicines. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company leverages proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a (Cpf1) platforms to develop therapies aimed at correcting disease-causing genetic mutations. Editas Medicine’s research and development efforts span multiple therapeutic areas, including inherited retinal diseases, hemoglobinopathies, and oncology.

The company’s pipeline includes EDIT-101, a lead candidate designed to treat Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10), which has entered early-stage clinical trials, and EDIT-301, targeting sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia using an ex vivo editing approach.