bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.14.

Several analysts have weighed in on BLUE shares. StockNews.com started coverage on bluebird bio in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. Bank of America lowered shares of bluebird bio from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of bluebird bio from $60.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $80.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th.

bluebird bio Price Performance

BLUE traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.41. The stock had a trading volume of 774,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,155. bluebird bio has a 1 year low of $5.80 and a 1 year high of $55.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.61 and a 200 day moving average of $13.82. The company has a market cap of $81.76 million, a P/E ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 0.72.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, September 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($8.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($8.00) by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $16.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.09 million. bluebird bio had a negative net margin of 565.74% and a negative return on equity of 322.46%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that bluebird bio will post -1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLUE. Allegheny Financial Group LTD purchased a new position in bluebird bio during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 43,382 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 25.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,436 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 59,219 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,855 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 74,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of bluebird bio by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 237,648 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 77,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.