bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) in a report released on Monday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BLUE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Bank of America downgraded bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $3.00 to $0.50 in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on bluebird bio from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.03.

bluebird bio Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of BLUE stock opened at $0.33 on Monday. bluebird bio has a fifty-two week low of $0.32 and a fifty-two week high of $5.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.78. The company has a market cap of $64.57 million, a P/E ratio of -0.18 and a beta of 0.76.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 565.74% and a negative return on equity of 238.15%. Research analysts forecast that bluebird bio will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in bluebird bio by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,498,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,438,000 after buying an additional 1,723,081 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in bluebird bio by 113.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 29,113 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in bluebird bio by 77.4% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 94,371 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 41,177 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of bluebird bio during the 1st quarter worth $52,000. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

bluebird bio Company Profile

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.