Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 11.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares were up 11.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $35.34 and last traded at $34.5790. Approximately 1,718,279 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 2,202,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BEAM. Tudor Pickering set a $41.00 target price on Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Benchmark reissued a “speculative buy” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.80.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of -7.73 and a beta of 2.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.58.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.12). Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 42.86% and a negative net margin of 744.41%.The firm had revenue of $9.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 32.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Christine Bellon sold 18,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.61, for a total value of $644,749.69. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 97,038 shares in the company, valued at $3,358,485.18. The trade was a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 7,080.0% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4,370.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 1,248.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 43.4% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: BEAM) is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing precision genetic medicines through its pioneering base editing platform. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional research facilities in Philadelphia, the company focuses on engineering molecular editors capable of making precise single-nucleotide changes in DNA. By harnessing its proprietary base editing technology, Beam aims to correct or disrupt disease-causing genetic variants at their source, offering the potential for novel therapies in areas with significant unmet medical need.

Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Harvard University and the Broad and Whitehead Institutes, Beam was co-founded by leading academic researcher David R.