Wall Street Zen Upgrades Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Editas Medicine from “sell” to “hold,” while broader analyst coverage remains moderately bullish, with five Buy ratings, one Hold, one Sell, and a consensus price target of $5.40.
• Editas shares opened at $2.88, with a $281.98 million market capitalization and a 52-week range of $1.66 to $4.54. The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting a loss of $0.15 per share versus the estimated $0.27 loss and revenue of $11.89 million versus the $2.85 million forecast.
• Institutional investors own 71.90% of the stock, with BlackRock initiating a $34.3 million position and several other investment firms substantially increasing their holdings; meanwhile, company insiders have recently sold shares.

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

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EDIT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Chardan Capital lifted their price objective on Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5.40.

Editas Medicine Stock Performance

Shares of Editas Medicine stock opened at $2.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.90 and a 200-day moving average of $2.64. Editas Medicine has a 52-week low of $1.66 and a 52-week high of $4.54. The stock has a market cap of $281.98 million, a PE ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 2.14.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.12. Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 157.32% and a negative return on equity of 196.63%. The business had revenue of $11.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 million. Equities research analysts predict that Editas Medicine will post -1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gilmore Neil O'neill sold 15,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.70, for a total value of $41,526.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 248,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,445.10. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,503 shares of company stock valued at $57,910. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Editas Medicine

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Editas Medicine during the second quarter worth $34,312,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 138.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,039,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762,378 shares during the last quarter. 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 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 worth $3,016,000 after buying an additional 1,430,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 707,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,584,155 shares of the company's stock worth $5,497,000 after buying an additional 614,229 shares during 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.

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