Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Price Up 7.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)’s share price rose 7.9% on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $25.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Beam Therapeutics traded as high as $26.84 and last traded at $27.09. Approximately 1,184,373 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 1,146,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.10.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BEAM. Leerink Partners upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total transaction of $30,627.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,968 shares in the company, valued at $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $24,306,628.25. This trade represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 816.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 21.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 103.2% during the fourth 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. 99.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.02 and a beta of 1.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.98.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.16. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $30.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. Beam Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics Inc. 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.