bluebird bio Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:BLUE)

bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 1,893 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,475 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of bluebird bio from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of bluebird bio from $2.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of bluebird bio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.14.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLUE opened at $4.08 on Friday. bluebird bio has a 1 year low of $4.00 and a 1 year high of $38.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $39.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.11 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.61.

Institutional Trading of bluebird bio

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,855 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 74,185 shares in the last quarter. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of bluebird bio in the 4th quarter worth $175,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 273.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 252,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 184,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,683,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 166,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of bluebird bio by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,923 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 43,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

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.