Blueprint Medicines Co. (NASDAQ:BPMC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Blueprint Medicines Co. (NASDAQ:BPMC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,100,000 shares, an increase of 12.6% from the December 15th total of 4,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 643,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.9 days.

Blueprint Medicines Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPMC traded up $6.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $110.05. The company had a trading volume of 970,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 533,081. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.16 and a beta of 0.61. Blueprint Medicines has a 12 month low of $72.24 and a 12 month high of $121.90.

Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.89) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.08. Blueprint Medicines had a negative return on equity of 112.30% and a negative net margin of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $128.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.20) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 126.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Blueprint Medicines will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blueprint Medicines

In related news, insider Ariel Hurley sold 2,250 shares of Blueprint Medicines stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,496,700. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Christina Rossi sold 2,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.10, for a total value of $216,257.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,814,580.70. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,970 shares of company stock worth $2,914,246 in the last quarter. 4.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blueprint Medicines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Blueprint Medicines in the second quarter worth approximately $1,060,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blueprint Medicines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Blueprint Medicines by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 252,236 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,332,000 after purchasing an additional 82,693 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Blueprint Medicines during the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in Blueprint Medicines by 187.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 48,588 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,237,000 after purchasing an additional 31,675 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPMC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blueprint Medicines from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.72.

Blueprint Medicines Company Profile

Blueprint Medicines Corporation, a precision therapy company, develops medicines for genomically defined cancers and blood disorders in the United States and internationally. The company is developing AYVAKIT for the treatment of systemic mastocytosis (SM) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors; BLU-263, an orally available, potent, and KIT inhibitor for the treatment of indolent SM, and other mast cell disorders.