Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Position in Editas Medicine, Inc. $EDIT

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies increased its Editas Medicine stake by 30.7% in the first quarter, adding 932,382 shares to own 3.97 million shares valued at approximately $9.8 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 71.9% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with five Buy ratings, one Hold and one Sell; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a $5.40 price target, compared with the stock’s recent price of $2.58.
• Editas Medicine beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a loss of $0.26 per share versus the anticipated $0.30 loss, but revenue of $2.83 million fell short of the $6.37 million estimate. The clinical-stage biotech continues developing CRISPR-based treatments for inherited retinal diseases, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Free Report) by 30.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,972,160 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 932,382 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 4.06% of Editas Medicine worth $9,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EDIT. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Editas Medicine by 19.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 88,707 shares of the company's stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 14,516 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Editas Medicine during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Editas Medicine during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 272,567 shares of the company's stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 27,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EDIT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Editas Medicine from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Chardan Capital upped their price objective on Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.40.

Insider Activity

In other Editas Medicine news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 15,380 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 248,313 shares in the company, valued at $670,445.10. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,503 shares of company stock valued at $57,910 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Editas Medicine Price Performance

Editas Medicine stock opened at $2.58 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.62. Editas Medicine, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.66 and a twelve month high of $4.54. The company has a market capitalization of $252.61 million, a P/E ratio of -2.10 and a beta of 2.14.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. Equities analysts expect that Editas Medicine, Inc. will post -1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Editas Medicine Company Profile

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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