Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $25.67, but opened at $26.80. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $25.1050, with a volume of 725,886 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BEAM. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. William Blair raised shares of Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 14.57, a current ratio of 14.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.80 and a beta of 2.20.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $0.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.00) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other Beam Therapeutics news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,205,815.04. This represents a 16.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $308,796,000. ARCH Venture Management LLC bought a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $155,771,929. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,154,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,327,000 after buying an additional 206,696 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $34,467,000. Finally, MWG Caph Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $35,119,000. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines using base editing, a technology designed to make targeted changes to DNA without cutting both strands of the DNA double helix. The company’s platform is intended to address diseases caused by specific genetic mutations and to support the development of potentially durable treatments.

Beam’s research and development activities focus on areas including hematology, liver diseases and genetic disorders.