Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Drops By 26.8%

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,990,000 shares, a decrease of 26.8% from the February 13th total of 2,720,000 shares. Currently, 20.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 474,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of bluebird bio from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Baird R W cut shares of bluebird bio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on bluebird bio from $40.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 355,562 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in 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. Barclays PLC raised 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 166,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of bluebird bio during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

BLUE traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $3.75. The stock had a trading volume of 130,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,141. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.27. The firm has a market cap of $36.46 million, a PE ratio of -0.10 and a beta of 0.76. bluebird bio has a 12 month low of $3.56 and a 12 month high of $30.90.

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.