Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Short Interest Update

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,360,000 shares, a growth of 17.4% from the March 15th total of 13,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Editas Medicine Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of Editas Medicine stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,024,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,880,755. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.44. Editas Medicine has a 1-year low of $6.08 and a 1-year high of $11.91. The company has a market cap of $508.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 2.01.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $60.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.84 million. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 42.95% and a negative net margin of 196.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 817.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.88) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Editas Medicine will post -2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EDIT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Editas Medicine from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Editas Medicine from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Editas Medicine from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Editas Medicine from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 77,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $733,102.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,084,767.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $191,480.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 141,543 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,335.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 77,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $733,102.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 327,470 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,767.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Editas Medicine

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Editas Medicine in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,097,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter valued at about $748,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 279,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,626,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.90% of the company's stock.

Editas Medicine Company Profile

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.