Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Trading 14.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) traded up 14.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $3.24 and last traded at $3.2950. Approximately 1,740,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 2,018,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Editas Medicine from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Editas Medicine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Chardan Capital raised their price target on Editas Medicine from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.50.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 9.5%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.54 million, a PE ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 2.14.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.12. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 196.63% and a negative net margin of 157.32%.The business had revenue of $11.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 million. As a group, analysts predict that Editas Medicine, Inc. will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Editas Medicine

In related news, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 15,380 shares of Editas Medicine stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.70, for a total value of $41,526.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 248,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,445.10. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,503 shares of company stock valued at $57,910. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Editas Medicine

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Editas Medicine in the second quarter valued at about $34,312,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Editas Medicine in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,800,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 30.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,972,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,811,000 after purchasing an additional 932,382 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 122.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,600,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after buying an additional 1,430,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,284,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,685,000 after buying an additional 244,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on translating the power of gene editing into a new class of transformative genomic medicines. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company leverages proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a (Cpf1) platforms to develop therapies aimed at correcting disease-causing genetic mutations. Editas Medicine’s research and development efforts span multiple therapeutic areas, including inherited retinal diseases, hemoglobinopathies, and oncology.

The company’s pipeline includes EDIT-101, a lead candidate designed to treat Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10), which has entered early-stage clinical trials, and EDIT-301, targeting sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia using an ex vivo editing approach.