Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,770,000 shares, a drop of 21.0% from the February 13th total of 17,440,000 shares. Currently, 17.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on EDIT. Truist Financial downgraded Editas Medicine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America cut Editas Medicine from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Editas Medicine from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Editas Medicine from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Chardan Capital restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.83.

Remove Ads

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Editas Medicine

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EDIT. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 236.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 111,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 78,513 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Editas Medicine by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,170,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 272,467 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,657,000 shares of the company's stock worth $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 528,000 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,649,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 290,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter worth approximately $508,000. 71.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Editas Medicine Stock Performance

Editas Medicine stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1.31. 2,901,959 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,531,115. Editas Medicine has a one year low of $1.12 and a one year high of $8.44. The stock has a market cap of $108.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.28.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $30.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.17 million. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 80.13% and a negative net margin of 340.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Editas Medicine will post -2.71 EPS for the current year.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine, Inc, a clinical stage genome editing company, focuses on developing transformative genomic medicines to treat a range of serious diseases. It develops a proprietary gene editing platform based on CRISPR technology. The company develops EDIT-101, which is in Phase 1/2 BRILLIANCE trial for Leber Congenital Amaurosis; and reni-cel, a clinical development gene-edited medicine to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.