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

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.00.

BLUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Baird R W downgraded bluebird bio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on bluebird bio from $40.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on bluebird bio in a research report on Friday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of bluebird bio from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLUE opened at $3.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.82. bluebird bio has a 52-week low of $3.56 and a 52-week high of $28.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.10 and a beta of 0.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in bluebird bio by 2,270.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 371,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 355,562 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 186,903 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in bluebird bio by 273.7% during the 3rd 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 bluebird bio by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 166,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in bluebird bio in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.