Analysts are weighing in on oil-and-gas company Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB), Dow stock General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), and biotech bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on shares of SLB, GE, and BLUE.
BMO downgraded Schlumberger stock to "market perform" from "outperform," while reducing its price target by $2 to $72. SLB stock is currently down 2.1% to trade at $66.91, and is back below its 120-day moving average -- a trendline that recently served as support for the security following a rally off its late-August lows near $62.50.
Longer term, the equity has shed 20.3% year-to-date, but options traders have been buying to open calls over puts at a faster-than-usual clip in recent months. SLB stock has racked up a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.97 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks 5 percentage points from a 52-week high.
J.P. Morgan Securities issued a price-target cut on General Electric to $20 from $22, sending the stock is down 0.9% to trade at $23.15 -- and fresh off a new two-year low of $23.02. The industrial conglomerate has shed 26.7% year-to-date -- the worst of all Dow stocks -- and with an average 12-month price target of $27.50, a 19% premium to the stock's current perch, more bearish brokerage notes could be on the way.
Short sellers have been piling on GE stock, too. Short interest increased by almost 26% during the last two reporting periods to 125.75 million shares, its highest point since mid-December. Continued selling pressure from shorts could create more headwinds for the shares.
Separately, a Wall Street Journal report suggested GE's Baker Hughes was recently in takeover talks with energy services company Subsea 7 SA. And while the talks have since ended, speculation is swirling that they could be revived.
bluebird bio stock is down 1.7% to trade at $129.25, after Jefferies downgraded the biotech name to "hold" from "buy." And while the brokerage firm raised its price target to $126 from $88, this is still a discount to current trading levels.
This is just the latest in a recent string of bearish analyst notes, even as BLUE stock has added 113% year-to-date. Plus, the stock touched a two-year high of $143.50 on Sept. 29, and its pullback from here has been contained by the 30-day moving average.
Short sellers, meanwhile, have been jumping ship amid the stock's longer-term uptrend. Short interest plunged 43.8% in the last reporting period to 4.36 million shares. However, this still represents 10.8% of the stock's available float, and would take almost six days to cover, at bluebird's average daily trading volume.