Blueprint Medicines Co. (NASDAQ:BPMC) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BPMC. UBS Group assumed coverage on Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $126.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blueprint Medicines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Blueprint Medicines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blueprint Medicines news, insider Ariel Hurley sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.26, for a total value of $169,639.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,967 shares in the company, valued at $1,395,822.42. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Christina Rossi sold 2,274 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 71,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,814,580.70. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,970 shares of company stock worth $2,914,246. 4.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blueprint Medicines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPMC. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Blueprint Medicines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Blueprint Medicines by 206.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 598 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Blueprint Medicines in the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blueprint Medicines in the 3rd quarter valued at $122,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Blueprint Medicines by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter.

Blueprint Medicines Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of BPMC traded up $6.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 970,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 533,081. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.09 and its 200 day moving average is $95.42. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a PE 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 3.32 and a quick ratio of 3.27.

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

About Blueprint Medicines

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.