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 September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,960,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the August 31st total of 18,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.5 days.

Editas Medicine Stock Performance

Shares of EDIT stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.27. 1,769,073 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,904,289. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.19. Editas Medicine has a twelve month low of $3.22 and a twelve month high of $11.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.99.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by ($0.12). Editas Medicine had a negative net margin of 288.59% and a negative return on equity of 62.61%. The company had revenue of $0.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.56) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 82.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Editas Medicine will post -2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EDIT. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Editas Medicine in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised Editas Medicine from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Editas Medicine from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Editas Medicine from $20.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Editas Medicine in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Editas Medicine has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.22.

Insider Activity

In other Editas Medicine news, EVP Linda Burkly sold 11,886 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total transaction of $64,422.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 73,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,397.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Linda Burkly sold 11,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total transaction of $64,422.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,397.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Baisong Mei sold 6,619 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.21, for a total transaction of $34,484.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,413 shares in the company, valued at $700,291.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,578 shares of company stock worth $105,997 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EDIT. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 33,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Editas Medicine by 10.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,459,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,486,000 after acquiring an additional 223,012 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 117.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 45,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 24,758 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Editas Medicine during the 2nd quarter valued at $600,000. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 675,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

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.