bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.89.

BLUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Bank of America upgraded bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Barclays raised bluebird bio from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on bluebird bio in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

bluebird bio stock opened at $3.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $417.12 million, a PE ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.88. bluebird bio has a one year low of $2.78 and a one year high of $8.58.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.67) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.30 million. bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 37.89% and a negative net margin of 1,020.37%. bluebird bio’s quarterly revenue was up 360.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.29) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that bluebird bio will post -2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at bluebird bio

In other bluebird bio news, CEO Andrew Obenshain sold 16,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.54, for a total transaction of $59,928.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 291,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,033,471.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in bluebird bio by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,765,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,494,000 after buying an additional 5,006,075 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,945,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,315 shares during the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 236.0% during the second quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 4,856,322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,977,000 after buying an additional 3,411,065 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in bluebird bio by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,709,607 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,482,000 after purchasing an additional 202,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management SA raised its stake in bluebird bio by 184.6% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 3,104,751 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,873,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

bluebird bio Company Profile

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.