Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Editas Medicine has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have differing views, with Cantor Fitzgerald upgrading their rating to "strong-buy" and setting a price target of $6.00, while HC Wainwright remains at a "buy" rating with a target of $5.00.
• Editas reported a loss of $0.63 per share in its latest earnings, missing consensus estimates but exceeding revenue expectations with $3.58 million in revenue.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Editas Medicine from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 price objective (up from $3.00) on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Editas Medicine from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.10.

Editas Medicine Stock Performance

Editas Medicine stock opened at $3.03 on Friday. Editas Medicine has a fifty-two week low of $0.91 and a fifty-two week high of $4.19. The company has a market capitalization of $272.46 million, a P/E ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 2.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.86.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by ($0.22). Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 608.88% and a negative return on equity of 200.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Editas Medicine will post -2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Editas Medicine

In related news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 15,192 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.72, for a total value of $26,130.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 280,282 shares in the company, valued at $482,085.04. This represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,164 shares of company stock valued at $42,649. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Editas Medicine

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EDIT. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,843,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 122.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 647.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Editas Medicine by 288.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 752,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 558,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Editas Medicine by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,657,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,104,000 after buying an additional 528,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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