Short Interest in Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Expands By 17.4%

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,360,000 shares, a growth of 17.4% from the March 15th total of 13,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.9 days.

Editas Medicine Stock Down 2.1 %

EDIT opened at $6.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $7.90 and its 200-day moving average is $8.43. Editas Medicine has a twelve month low of $5.97 and a twelve month high of $11.91.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.29. Editas Medicine had a negative return on equity of 42.95% and a negative net margin of 196.12%. The firm had revenue of $60.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.88) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 817.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Editas Medicine will post -2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Editas Medicine

In other Editas Medicine news, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $191,480.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 141,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,335.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total transaction 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 $1,333,335.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 77,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.42, for a total value of $733,102.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 327,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,767.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Editas Medicine

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Editas Medicine by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 288,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Editas Medicine by 6.2% in the first quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 18,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Editas Medicine by 0.5% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 216,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Editas Medicine by 18.0% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Editas Medicine by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EDIT. Citigroup lifted their price target on Editas Medicine from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Editas Medicine from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Editas Medicine from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Editas Medicine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.