Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 2,385,686 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session’s volume of 1,163,214 shares.The stock last traded at $26.19 and had previously closed at $28.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $52.50.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.01 and its 200-day moving average is $26.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.93 and a beta of 1.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 0.4% in 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 boosted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,287,000 after acquiring an additional 536,930 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,109,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,274,000 after purchasing an additional 437,402 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.