Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Needham & Company LLC

Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC) was downgraded by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.59% from the stock’s current price.

BPMC has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blueprint Medicines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a report on Friday, February 14th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.35.

Blueprint Medicines Stock Up 0.1%

Blueprint Medicines stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $127.97. 1,963,614 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,103,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.85. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of -118.49 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.65. Blueprint Medicines has a 12 month low of $73.04 and a 12 month high of $128.36.

Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.32). Blueprint Medicines had a negative return on equity of 77.49% and a negative net margin of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $149.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Blueprint Medicines will post -1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blueprint Medicines

In other news, Director Jeffrey W. Albers sold 5,000 shares of Blueprint Medicines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.14, for a total transaction of $505,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 146,630 shares in the company, valued at $14,830,158.20. The trade was a 3.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Christina Rossi sold 2,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.02, for a total transaction of $216,075.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 69,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,581,655.32. The trade was a 3.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,574 shares of company stock worth $1,465,528. 4.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blueprint Medicines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BPMC. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blueprint Medicines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in Blueprint Medicines during the fourth quarter worth $321,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Blueprint Medicines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 303,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,101 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Blueprint Medicines by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blueprint Medicines during the 4th quarter worth $21,104,000.

Blueprint Medicines Company Profile

Blueprint Medicines Corporation, a precision therapy company, develops medicines for genomically defined cancers and blood disorders in the United States and internationally. The company is developing AYVAKIT for the treatment of systemic mastocytosis (SM) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors; BLU-263, an orally available, potent, and KIT inhibitor for the treatment of indolent SM, and other mast cell disorders.