bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 30,505 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in bluebird bio were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BLUE. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in bluebird bio by 315.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,144 shares in the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of bluebird bio in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of bluebird bio by 25.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 292,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 59,219 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in bluebird bio by 19.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 685,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in bluebird bio during the first quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLUE. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of bluebird bio in a report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on bluebird bio from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut bluebird bio from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.63.

bluebird bio Stock Performance

Shares of BLUE stock opened at $0.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.67 and a beta of 0.75. bluebird bio, Inc. has a 1-year low of $0.45 and a 1-year high of $5.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $0.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $0.86.

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) last released its earnings results on Friday, September 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $18.57 million for the quarter. bluebird bio had a negative net margin of 567.29% and a negative return on equity of 207.25%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that bluebird bio, Inc. will post -1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.