Short Interest in Generation Bio Co. (NASDAQ:GBIO) Drops By 34.4%

Generation Bio Co. (NASDAQ:GBIO) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a drop of 34.4% from the February 28th total of 2,560,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 540,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GBIO. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Generation Bio in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Generation Bio in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Generation Bio in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Generation Bio

In other Generation Bio news, Director Anthony G. Quinn acquired 85,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $0.97 per share, for a total transaction of $82,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 299,286 shares in the company, valued at $290,307.42. This represents a 39.67 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 21.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Generation Bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GBIO. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Generation Bio by 0.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,320,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,141,000 after buying an additional 15,656 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Generation Bio during the 4th quarter valued at $2,398,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Generation Bio by 61.1% in the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,944,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 737,988 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Generation Bio by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 992,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 11,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Generation Bio by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 962,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 368,659 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.22% of the company’s stock.

Generation Bio Stock Performance

GBIO stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $0.43. 558,689 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,951. Generation Bio has a 52 week low of $0.41 and a 52 week high of $4.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $0.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.67 million, a PE ratio of -0.20 and a beta of 2.72.

Generation Bio (NASDAQ:GBIO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 million. Generation Bio had a negative return on equity of 104.85% and a negative net margin of 782.86%. As a group, analysts predict that Generation Bio will post -1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Generation Bio

Generation Bio Co develops non-viral genetic medicines for the treatment of rare and prevalent diseases. The company develops cell-targeted lipid nanoparticle (ctLNP) platform, a modular delivery system for nucleic acids to avoid off-target clearance by the liver and spleen that enables ctLNPs to persist in systemic circulation, which allows for highly selective and potent ligand-driven targeting to specific tissues and cell types; and novel immune-quiet DNA (iqDNA) to enable long-lasting high levels of gene expression from non-integrating episomes and avoids innate immune sensors that have long prevented DNA from use in non-viral systems.