Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Editas Medicine from “hold” to “sell,” adding to a mixed analyst picture that still includes multiple buy ratings.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock was up 2.6% and opened at $3.11, with a market cap of about $304.5 million.
• In its latest earnings report, Editas Medicine beat EPS expectations but missed on revenue, and analysts expect the company to post a full-year loss.

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on EDIT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 target price on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Chardan Capital upped their price target on shares of Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JonesTrading upgraded shares of Editas Medicine from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $8.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5.40.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 2.6%

EDIT opened at $3.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.50 million, a P/E ratio of -2.53 and a beta of 2.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $2.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.47. Editas Medicine has a 12 month low of $1.35 and a 12 month high of $4.54.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.04. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 677.39% and a negative net margin of 281.59%.The company had revenue of $2.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Editas Medicine will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $6,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,762,378 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 122.2% during 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 valued at $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Editas Medicine by 761.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 800,023 shares of the company's stock worth $2,776,000 after purchasing an additional 707,181 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Editas Medicine by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,584,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 614,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.90% of the company's stock.

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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