Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC)

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "equal weight" rating and a $100.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.96% from the stock's previous close.

BPMC has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $133.00 price objective on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Blueprint Medicines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.95.

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Blueprint Medicines Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BPMC traded up $6.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $95.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,358,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,535. Blueprint Medicines has a twelve month low of $80.68 and a twelve month high of $121.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.21 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $99.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.92.

Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.68) by ($0.11). Blueprint Medicines had a negative net margin of 13.19% and a negative return on equity of 77.49%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blueprint Medicines will post -1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blueprint Medicines

In related news, insider Ariel Hurley sold 3,203 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $296,661.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,692,167.40. This trade represents a 14.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kate Haviland sold 1,446 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.24, for a total value of $159,407.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,467,430.72. The trade was a 0.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,334 shares of company stock valued at $3,103,512 over the last three months. 4.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blueprint Medicines

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Blueprint Medicines in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Blueprint Medicines during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Blueprint Medicines during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Thematics Asset Management acquired a new position in Blueprint Medicines in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Blueprint Medicines by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 973 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter.

About Blueprint Medicines

Blueprint Medicines Corporation, a precision therapy company, develops medicines for genomically defined cancers and blood disorders in the United States and internationally. The company is developing AYVAKIT for the treatment of systemic mastocytosis (SM) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors; BLU-263, an orally available, potent, and KIT inhibitor for the treatment of indolent SM, and other mast cell disorders.