bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Cut to "Neutral" at Bank of America

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $0.50 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their previous price target of $3.00. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 55.86% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BLUE. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of bluebird bio from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays reduced their target price on bluebird bio from $8.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on bluebird bio from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.03.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLUE traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $0.32. The stock had a trading volume of 9,128,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,439,042. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.14 and a beta of 0.76. bluebird bio has a 52 week low of $0.32 and a 52 week high of $5.53.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $18.57 million during the quarter. bluebird bio had a negative return on equity of 207.25% and a negative net margin of 567.29%. On average, research analysts expect that bluebird bio will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in bluebird bio by 19.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,460 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in bluebird bio by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in bluebird bio by 8.1% during 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,013,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in bluebird bio by 19.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.