Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 279,807 Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) by 95.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,723 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 279,807 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.15% of bluebird bio worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. bought a new position in bluebird bio during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 273.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 252,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 184,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 166,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of bluebird bio by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 43,382 shares during the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Trading Up 11.3 %

NASDAQ:BLUE opened at $4.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $42.49 million, a PE ratio of -0.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.02. bluebird bio, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.56 and a 12 month high of $28.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BLUE. Baird R W downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of bluebird bio from $40.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of bluebird bio from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on bluebird bio in a research report on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on bluebird bio from $40.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.60.

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.