Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) saw 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 volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Editas Medicine Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of EDIT opened at $1.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $104.84 million, a PE ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.87. Editas Medicine has a 12-month low of $1.16 and a 12-month high of $11.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.53.

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $0.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.55) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 98.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Editas Medicine will post -2.59 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EDIT. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 10.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its position in Editas Medicine by 50.0% during 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 period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Editas Medicine by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 624,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 171,656 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 529,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 302,652 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 296,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332 shares during the last quarter. 71.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Editas Medicine Company Profile

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.