Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.26, but opened at $26.10. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $26.51, with a volume of 115,516 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BEAM has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 9th. Leerink Partners raised Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 1.92.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.01). Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $14.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.22) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total value of $1,347,259.60. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 109,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,194. The trade was a 31.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $30,627.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,541,250.24. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 404,782 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,274,000 after purchasing an additional 437,402 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,297,000 after purchasing an additional 78,102 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 7.1% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,518,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,194,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 63.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,049,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,589,000 after buying an additional 407,499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

Beam Therapeutics Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in the development of precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States. It develops BEAM-101 for the treatment of sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia; and BEAM-302, a liver-targeting LNP formulation to treat severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; BEAM-201, an anti-CD7 CAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma; and BEAM-301, a liver-targeting LNP formulation for the treatment of glycogen storage disease 1a.