Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Editas a "Moderate Buy" consensus from eight brokerages (1 sell, 1 hold, 5 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 1-year price target of $5.30.
• Large institutional investors have been adding shares—Renaissance, UBS and others significantly increased positions—leaving institutions with about 71.90% ownership of the company.
• Editas beat quarterly expectations (EPS -$0.06 vs. -$0.27; revenue $24.74M vs. $8.77M) but remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (~395%) and sell-side forecasts calling for about -2.71 EPS for the year.

Shares of Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.30.

A number of brokerages recently commented on EDIT. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 target price on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Editas Medicine from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $3.50 target price on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Monday, March 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Editas Medicine

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 138.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,039,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,762,378 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 122.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,600,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,284,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,685,000 after acquiring an additional 244,574 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,974,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,049,000 after acquiring an additional 49,887 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 63.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,584,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,497,000 after acquiring an additional 614,229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.90% of the company's stock.

Editas Medicine Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EDIT opened at $2.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $287.74 million, a PE ratio of -1.56 and a beta of 2.04. The company's fifty day moving average is $2.22 and its 200 day moving average is $2.53. Editas Medicine has a 52 week low of $1.08 and a 52 week high of $4.54.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.21. The company had revenue of $24.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.77 million. Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 395.02% and a negative return on equity of 389.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Editas Medicine will post -2.71 EPS for the current year.

About Editas Medicine

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.

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