Wall Street Zen Downgrades Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) to Sell

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

BEAM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of BEAM opened at $27.48 on Friday. Beam Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $15.60 and a 1 year high of $38.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 14.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.95 and a beta of 2.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.61 and a 200-day moving average of $28.96.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.07). Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.The company had revenue of $0.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.00) earnings per share. Beam Therapeutics’s revenue was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total value of $8,867,466.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 854,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,132,596.58. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 301,527 shares of company stock worth $10,468,500. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 48.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

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.