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

Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EDIT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Editas Medicine from $20.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Editas Medicine in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America raised Editas Medicine from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Editas Medicine in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Baisong Mei sold 6,619 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 134,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,291.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Linda Burkly sold 11,886 shares of Editas Medicine stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total value of $64,422.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,136 shares in the company, valued at $396,397.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were 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 directly owns 134,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,291.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,578 shares of company stock worth $105,997. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Editas Medicine

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

Editas Medicine Price Performance

Shares of EDIT opened at $3.27 on Wednesday. Editas Medicine has a 1-year low of $3.22 and a 1-year high of $11.69. The company has a market capitalization of $268.92 million, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.19.

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

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.