Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Trading 14.4% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Editas Medicine shares surged 14.4% to approximately $3.30, with about 1.74 million shares traded.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $5.50, including a new $6.00 target from Ladenburg Thalmann.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.15 per share versus the estimated $0.27 loss and revenue of $11.89 million versus the $2.85 million consensus forecast.

Shares of Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) traded up 14.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $3.24 and last traded at $3.2950. Approximately 1,740,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 2,018,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Editas Medicine from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Editas Medicine from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Chardan Capital raised their price target on Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5.50.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 9.5%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.54 million, a PE ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 2.14.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.12. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 196.63% and a negative net margin of 157.32%.The business had revenue of $11.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 million. As a group, analysts predict that Editas Medicine, Inc. will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Editas Medicine

In related news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 15,380 shares of Editas Medicine stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.70, for a total value of $41,526.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 248,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,445.10. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,503 shares of company stock valued at $57,910. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Editas Medicine

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Editas Medicine in the second quarter valued at about $34,312,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Editas Medicine in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,800,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 30.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,972,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,811,000 after purchasing an additional 932,382 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,016,000 after buying an additional 1,430,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,284,740 shares of the company's stock worth $4,685,000 after buying an additional 244,574 shares in the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source