Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Up 9% – Here’s Why

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)’s stock price shot up 9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.92 and last traded at $16.87. 689,703 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 1,384,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -9.82 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.02.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. Beam Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $802,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at $24,306,628.25. The trade was a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 5,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $104,117.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,152,344.90. This trade represents a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,698 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 816.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Beam Therapeutics by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.