bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,750,000 shares, a decrease of 12.6% from the March 15th total of 34,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLUE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on bluebird bio from $1.72 to $1.68 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com raised bluebird bio to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in bluebird bio by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its stake in bluebird bio by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,972 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. increased its stake in bluebird bio by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 39,274 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in bluebird bio by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,679 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in bluebird bio by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 23,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares in the last quarter. 87.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of BLUE traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $0.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,884,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,997,299. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.28 million, a P/E ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 0.74. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $0.88 and a 1-year high of $5.53.

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.