Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 3.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) rose 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.99 and last traded at $18.30. Approximately 176,964 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,309,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 7.1 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.70 and a beta of 1.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 908,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. The trade was a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $30,627.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 901.2% in the fourth quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 208,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,165,000 after buying an additional 187,455 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,997,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,851,000. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 119.3% during the fourth quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 127,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 69,456 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

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.