bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) shot up 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $1.42 and last traded at $1.37. 1,919,620 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 9,808,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BLUE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC cut their price objective on bluebird bio from $2.31 to $1.02 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of bluebird bio from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, bluebird bio currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.87.

bluebird bio Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $139.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.72 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in bluebird bio by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 39,274 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 22.5% in the third 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 raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.