Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) Upgraded to Equal Weight by Morgan Stanley

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, FinViz reports. The firm presently has a $7.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 39.03% from the stock’s previous close.

EDIT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised Editas Medicine from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Editas Medicine from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Editas Medicine from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Editas Medicine from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.20.

Editas Medicine Stock Performance

Shares of EDIT opened at $5.04 on Thursday. Editas Medicine has a 1 year low of $4.91 and a 1 year high of $11.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.05 million, a P/E ratio of -2.46 and a beta of 2.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $7.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Editas Medicine news, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 77,824 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,767.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Editas Medicine news, CEO Gilmore Neil O’neill sold 77,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,767.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Baisong Mei sold 20,327 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 141,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,335.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Editas Medicine by 18.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 38,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Editas Medicine by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 179,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Editas Medicine by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 75,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Editas Medicine by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.90% of the company’s stock.

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.