Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Up 5.8% – Still a Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares shot up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $29.85 and last traded at $29.9760. 162,384 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 2,074,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.10 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a current ratio of 14.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.83.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In other Beam Therapeutics news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. This trade represents a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total transaction of $8,867,466.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 854,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,132,596.58. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BEAM. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4,370.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in 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 buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.