Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.26, but opened at $26.10. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $26.51, with a volume of 115,516 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BEAM. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on 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. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.73 and a beta of 1.92.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.52 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.22) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the president now owns 109,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,194. This trade represents a 31.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $30,627.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,541,250.24. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 516 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 valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 12,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.