Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $2.76 Million Stock Position in Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) by 40.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,991 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Beam Therapeutics worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BEAM. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 816.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $191,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $136,413.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 190,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,490,463.60. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $562,666.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,097,669.15. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,771 shares of company stock valued at $803,198 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3%

Beam Therapeutics stock opened at $17.66 on Tuesday. Beam Therapeutics Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.53 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 2.35.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.13). Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $7.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.21) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Beam Therapeutics 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.