Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Price Up 8.6% – Still a Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shot up 8.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $28.00 and last traded at $27.51. 190,650 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,215,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BEAM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.91.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 5.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.18 and a beta of 1.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.79 and its 200 day moving average is $25.15.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.22) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $1,476,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 938,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,091,011.40. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $1,347,259.60. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 109,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,194. This trade represents a 31.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,894 shares of company stock valued at $4,181,745. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 212.6% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 137.1% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 17,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 10,290 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2,648.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 51,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,874,000. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.