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

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,930,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 16,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Editas Medicine Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of EDIT opened at $1.31 on Friday. Editas Medicine has a 52-week low of $1.16 and a 52-week high of $11.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.51. The company has a market capitalization of $108.14 million, a PE ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.87.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75). Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 340.96% and a negative return on equity of 80.13%. The company had revenue of $0.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.93 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.55) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Editas Medicine will post -2.59 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Editas Medicine

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EDIT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Editas Medicine by 10.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 33,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 137,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 3,862 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Editas Medicine by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,089 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Editas Medicine by 64.2% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 6,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Editas Medicine by 494.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 7,758 shares in the last quarter. 71.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EDIT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Editas Medicine from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America lowered Editas Medicine from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $13.00 to $1.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Editas Medicine from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Editas Medicine from $5.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Editas Medicine from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Editas Medicine presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.00.

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.