bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,620,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the March 31st total of 29,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on bluebird bio from $1.72 to $1.68 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com raised bluebird bio to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on bluebird bio from $2.31 to $1.02 and set a "reduce" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.74.

Institutional Trading of bluebird bio

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 6.5% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,996 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,751 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 1.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 411,466 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 6,044 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of bluebird bio during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in bluebird bio during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Summit X LLC lifted its position in bluebird bio by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 178,952 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 16,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company's stock.

bluebird bio Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of BLUE traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $0.89. 11,711,540 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,747,787. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.00 million, a PE ratio of -1.27 and a beta of 0.74. bluebird bio has a fifty-two week low of $0.86 and a fifty-two week high of $5.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.95.

About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc, a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.