Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading Up 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares traded up 9.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $25.50 and last traded at $25.2520. 551,079 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 2,059,151 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 7.0%

The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.76 and a beta of 2.22. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $27.71 and its 200-day moving average is $28.74.

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

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total value of $429,008.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 301,527 shares of company stock worth $10,468,500 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $11,037,000. Canal Insurance CO acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $953,000. Ishara Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,386,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 136.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 93,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after acquiring an additional 53,752 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 111.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 135,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 71,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing genetic medicines using its proprietary base-editing technology. Unlike conventional gene-editing approaches that can make double-strand breaks in DNA, base editing is designed to make targeted changes to individual DNA letters, with the goal of treating diseases at their genetic source.

The company is developing both ex vivo and in vivo therapies. Its pipeline has included programs for sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, glycogen storage disease type Ia and certain cancers.