Short Interest in Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Decreases By 21.7%

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,090,000 shares, a decline of 21.7% from the April 30th total of 11,610,000 shares. Approximately 11.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Editas Medicine Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:EDIT traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,428,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,561,634. Editas Medicine has a fifty-two week low of $0.91 and a fifty-two week high of $6.22. The company has a market capitalization of $151.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.71 and a beta of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.43 and a 200-day moving average of $1.54.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by $0.08. Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 340.96% and a negative return on equity of 80.13%. The firm had revenue of $4.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($76.00) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Editas Medicine will post -2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EDIT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Editas Medicine from $8.00 to $4.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Editas Medicine in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $3.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Editas Medicine from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Editas Medicine from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Editas Medicine news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 15,192 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.72, for a total transaction of $26,130.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 280,282 shares in the company, valued at $482,085.04. This represents a 5.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,364 shares of company stock worth $28,146. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EDIT. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Editas Medicine during the fourth quarter worth $1,843,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Editas Medicine by 122.2% during 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 worth $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,000 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Editas Medicine by 647.3% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,300,604 shares of the company's stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,569 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM acquired a new position in Editas Medicine during the fourth quarter worth $1,359,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Editas Medicine by 288.5% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 752,162 shares of the company's stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 558,567 shares in the last quarter. 71.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine, Inc, a clinical stage genome editing company, focuses on developing transformative genomic medicines to treat a range of serious diseases. It develops a proprietary gene editing platform based on CRISPR technology. The company develops EDIT-101, which is in Phase 1/2 BRILLIANCE trial for Leber Congenital Amaurosis; and reni-cel, a clinical development gene-edited medicine to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.