Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,740,000 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the March 15th total of 12,160,000 shares. Currently, 18.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $802,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 908,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,306,628.25. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 5,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $104,117.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,152,344.90. The trade was a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,771 shares of company stock worth $1,605,698 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BEAM. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 9,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 1.6% during the first quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 51,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 11,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 137,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BEAM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America raised 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, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BEAM traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $17.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,242,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,264. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.19 and a beta of 2.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.89. Beam Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $13.53 and a 1 year high of $35.25.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $30.00 million during 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 was down 90.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.