Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,010,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the August 15th total of 16,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Editas Medicine in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Editas Medicine from $20.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Editas Medicine from $15.00 to $7.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America raised Editas Medicine from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Editas Medicine from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.90.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 2.6 %

Editas Medicine stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.98. The company had a trading volume of 193,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,871,330. The company has a market capitalization of $327.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 1.99. Editas Medicine has a 12-month low of $3.40 and a 12-month high of $11.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.41 and its 200-day moving average is $5.51.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $0.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 million. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 62.61% and a negative net margin of 288.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 82.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.56) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Editas Medicine will post -2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Editas Medicine

In other Editas Medicine news, EVP Baisong Mei sold 6,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.21, for a total transaction of $34,484.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,291.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Linda Burkly sold 11,886 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total transaction of $64,422.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,397.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Baisong Mei sold 6,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.21, for a total value of $34,484.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,291.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,578 shares of company stock valued at $105,997 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Editas Medicine

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EDIT. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Editas Medicine in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Editas Medicine by 401.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 4,156 shares during the period. Hoylecohen LLC purchased a new position in Editas Medicine during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the second quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Aries Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine during the second quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine, Inc, a clinical stage genome editing company, focuses on developing transformative genomic medicines to treat a range of serious diseases. It develops a proprietary gene editing platform based on CRISPR technology. The company develops EDIT-101, which is in Phase 1/2 BRILLIANCE trial for Leber Congenital Amaurosis; and reni-cel, a clinical development gene-edited medicine to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.