Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Price Up 8% – Still a Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares shot up 8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.79 and last traded at $27.81. 622,444 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 1,111,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BEAM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.57 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.78.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.52 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. Beam Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.22) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the business’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 value of $30,627.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $802,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,287,000 after purchasing an additional 536,930 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,274,000 after buying an additional 437,402 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,297,000 after acquiring an additional 78,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,518,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,194,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.