Wall Street Zen Upgrades Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) to “Sell”

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

BEAM has been the subject of several other reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. William Blair raised shares of Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BEAM opened at $24.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.49 and a beta of 2.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.67 and its 200 day moving average is $28.58. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $20.23 and a 52 week high of $38.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a current ratio of 14.57.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.00) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEAM. Wealth Effects LLC grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 10,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 123.6% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 0.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 180,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 7.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 1,372.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines using base editing, a technology designed to make targeted changes to DNA without cutting both strands of the DNA double helix. The company’s platform is intended to address diseases caused by specific genetic mutations and to support the development of potentially durable treatments.

Beam’s research and development activities focus on areas including hematology, liver diseases and genetic disorders.