Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Increases By 20.0%

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 49,370,000 shares, an increase of 20.0% from the August 15th total of 41,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

bluebird bio Trading Down 13.3 %

BLUE stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $0.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,507,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,738,188. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $0.48 and a 1-year high of $5.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $0.88 and a 200 day moving average of $1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.68 and a beta of 0.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,081 shares during the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in bluebird bio during the fourth quarter worth $4,347,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in bluebird bio during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,967,000. HBK Investments L P acquired a new stake in shares of bluebird bio in the fourth quarter worth about $2,070,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 315.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BLUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of bluebird bio from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on bluebird bio from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on bluebird bio from $8.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, bluebird bio has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.74.

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.