Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) dropped 3.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $23.17 and last traded at $23.10. Approximately 288,416 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,221,528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BEAM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jones Trading raised Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Beam Therapeutics from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.82.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Down 5.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.45 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.90.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $30.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 90.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 102,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,541,250.24. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at $24,306,628.25. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEAM. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Beam Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,239,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,330,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,287,000 after purchasing an additional 536,930 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,109,000 after buying an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,274,000 after purchasing an additional 437,402 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.