Virtu Financial LLC Invests $317,000 in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 229,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLUE. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in bluebird bio in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in bluebird bio in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in bluebird bio in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in bluebird bio by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 27,889 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in bluebird bio by 108.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 44,844 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 23,382 shares during the period. 87.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLUE. Wedbush lowered their price objective on bluebird bio from $1.72 to $1.68 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on bluebird bio from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of bluebird bio in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded bluebird bio to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on bluebird bio from $2.31 to $1.02 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, bluebird bio has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.46.

bluebird bio Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of BLUE stock opened at $0.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 0.81. bluebird bio, Inc. has a 12-month low of $0.85 and a 12-month high of $5.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $0.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.36.

bluebird bio Profile

bluebird bio, Inc, a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.