bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) traded up 4.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.27 and last traded at $1.25. 2,527,252 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 9,864,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on bluebird bio from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on bluebird bio from $12.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, bluebird bio presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.87.

bluebird bio Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $139.96 million, a P/E ratio of -1.73 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On bluebird bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBK Investments L P purchased a new stake in shares of bluebird bio in the fourth quarter worth $2,070,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in bluebird bio by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,775,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,919 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in bluebird bio by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 613,641 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 31,473 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in bluebird bio by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,276,586 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 515,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in bluebird bio during the fourth quarter valued at about $317,000. 87.43% of the stock is owned by 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.