Here's Why Editas Medicine Rose as Much as 15.9% Monday
Shares of gene editing leader Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT) rose nearly 16% Monday on heavy trading volume, most of which occurred shortly after the market opened. The number of shares traded in the first few minutes of trading exceeded the daily average trading volume.
There was no major announcement. Instead, Editas Medicine decided to payoff a promissory note issued to the Broad Institute, the holder of its gene editing patents, by issuing shares of common stock on Friday, Aug. 4 that became the property of the research institution. The maximum conversion price was $21.49 per share, which was significantly higher than the recent stock price, and it appears the shares were sold Monday morning at that higher price. Therefore, the company's stock received a little boost.
Despite the honest explanation with almost no significance to Editas Medicine (it didn't receive proceeds from issuing the shares to the Broad Institute), the gains managed to stick around. As of 3:21 p.m. EDT, the stock had settled to a 10.6% gain.
Source: Fool.com
