Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)’s stock price rose 8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.79 and last traded at $27.81. Approximately 622,444 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 1,111,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BEAM. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Leerink Partnrs raised Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.50 and a 200 day moving average of $25.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.57 and a beta of 1.92.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.52 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The business’s revenue was down 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.22) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Beam Therapeutics news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. This trade represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $30,627.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEAM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 6.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 629,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,423,000 after acquiring an additional 36,226 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,518,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,194,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,297,000 after purchasing an additional 78,102 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,247,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Beam Therapeutics by 59.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,552,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,044,000 after buying an additional 1,328,414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

Beam Therapeutics Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in the development of precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States. It develops BEAM-101 for the treatment of sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia; and BEAM-302, a liver-targeting LNP formulation to treat severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; BEAM-201, an anti-CD7 CAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma; and BEAM-301, a liver-targeting LNP formulation for the treatment of glycogen storage disease 1a.