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

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,760,000 shares, a growth of 14.7% from the March 31st total of 16,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $191,480.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 141,543 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,335.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 77,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $733,102.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,084,767.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $191,480.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 141,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,335.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Editas Medicine

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EDIT. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 66.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 6,263 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 57,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 18,745 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,097,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Editas Medicine in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $748,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Editas Medicine during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,000. Institutional investors own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

Editas Medicine Trading Up 0.9 %

Editas Medicine stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,258,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,810,285. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.63 million, a PE ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 2.02. Editas Medicine has a 12 month low of $5.11 and a 12 month high of $11.91.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $60.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 million. Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 196.12% and a negative return on equity of 42.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 817.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.88) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Editas Medicine will post -2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EDIT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Editas Medicine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Editas Medicine from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Editas Medicine from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Editas Medicine from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

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.