Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s target price indicates a potential upside of 174.84% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BEAM. William Blair upgraded Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.10.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:BEAM traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,660,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,047,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 14.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.50 and a beta of 2.20. Beam Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $20.23 and a 1-year high of $38.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.59.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $0.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 54.75% and a negative return on equity of 30.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.00) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. This represents a 16.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Beam Therapeutics by 123.6% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Beam Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $43,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines using base editing, a technology designed to make targeted changes to DNA without cutting both strands of the DNA double helix. The company’s platform is intended to address diseases caused by specific genetic mutations and to support the development of potentially durable treatments.

Beam’s research and development activities focus on areas including hematology, liver diseases and genetic disorders.