Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $30.48, but opened at $29.53. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $30.26, with a volume of 88,295 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BEAM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Beam Therapeutics from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Beam Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 target price on Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.86. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.69 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 14.57.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 54.75% and a negative return on equity of 30.71%. The business had revenue of $0.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.00) EPS. Beam Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total value of $8,867,466.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 854,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,132,596.58. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 in the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 55,780.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 33,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,468 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 10.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 438,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,564,000 after buying an additional 42,609 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $201,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Beam Therapeutics by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 30,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 128,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 40,583 shares during the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

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.