Maxim Group Downgrades bluebird bio (BLUE) to Hold

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) was downgraded by research analysts at Maxim Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Maxim Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 4.74% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BLUE. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $151.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up previously from $121.00) on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Friday, September 1st. Leerink Swann reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $162.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $134.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. bluebird bio currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.45.

Shares of bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) opened at $190.95 on Wednesday. bluebird bio has a 1-year low of $60.95 and a 1-year high of $222.03.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($1.73) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($1.68) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $7.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 million. bluebird bio had a negative net margin of 883.18% and a negative return on equity of 28.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 397.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.07) EPS. research analysts expect that bluebird bio will post -6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, insider Jeffrey T. Walsh sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.38, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 62,305 shares in the company, valued at $9,431,730.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Davidson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total transaction of $525,240.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 99,550 shares of company stock worth $14,413,376. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLUE. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of bluebird bio by 44,948.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,182,188 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $289,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175,124 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in bluebird bio in the 1st quarter valued at $51,095,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in bluebird bio by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,075,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $133,257,000 after buying an additional 762,000 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in bluebird bio by 227,306.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 654,930 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,391,000 after buying an additional 654,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in bluebird bio by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,713,949 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $705,301,000 after buying an additional 587,236 shares during the last quarter.

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About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The Company is focused on developing gene therapies for severe diseases and cancer. With its lentiviral-based gene therapy and gene editing capabilities, it has built an integrated product platform with various applications in these areas. The Company’s clinical programs in severe genetic diseases include its LentiGlobin product candidate to treat transfusion-dependent b-thalassemia and to treat severe sickle cell disease (SCD) and its Lenti-D product candidate to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD).