Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 7.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares rose 7.9% during trading on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $25.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Beam Therapeutics traded as high as $26.84 and last traded at $27.09. Approximately 1,184,373 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 1,146,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.10.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEAM. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,239,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,330,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,287,000 after acquiring an additional 536,930 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,109,000 after acquiring an additional 404,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,274,000 after buying an additional 437,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.32 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.10 and a 200 day moving average of $25.96.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.16. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The company had revenue of $30.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. Beam Therapeutics’s revenue was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current year.

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.