Brokerages Set bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Price Target at $49.14

Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.14.

A number of research analysts have commented on BLUE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLUE opened at $7.79 on Wednesday. bluebird bio has a 52-week low of $5.80 and a 52-week high of $38.40. The stock has a market cap of $75.73 million, a PE ratio of -4.17 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.48 and a 200-day moving average of $13.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.51.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, September 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($8.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($8.00) by ($0.40). bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 322.46% and a negative net margin of 565.74%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.09 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that bluebird bio will post -1.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% in the 3rd 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. State Street Corp grew its position in bluebird bio by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 43,382 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 186,903 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.