Beam Therapeutics’ (BEAM) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 176.53% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of BEAM traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,044,650. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.59. The company has a current ratio of 14.57, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.40 and a beta of 2.20. Beam Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $20.23 and a 12-month high of $38.26.

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

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 10,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 180,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 7.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 1,372.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

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.