Short Interest in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Drops By 6.6%

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the December 31st total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 405,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days. Currently, 25.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut bluebird bio from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.14.

bluebird bio Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLUE traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 312,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 204,444. The company has a market cap of $61.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.17 and a beta of 0.68. bluebird bio has a one year low of $5.80 and a one year high of $38.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.87.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 166,771 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 43,382 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 8.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 186,903 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 315.3% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of bluebird bio by 2,270.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 371,224 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 355,562 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.