Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $25.67, but opened at $26.80. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $25.1050, with a volume of 725,886 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. 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 upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 1.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.30 and a beta of 2.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $26.68 and its 200 day moving average is $28.58. 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 results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $0.49 million during 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 firm’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 business earned ($1.00) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the 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 owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. This trade represents a 16.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Alphabet Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,037,000. Canal Insurance CO purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $953,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $3,259,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,717,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Beam Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $308,796,000. 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.