Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Beam Therapeutics to “Sell” from “Hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with 10 Buy, two Hold and one Sell ratings and an average price target of $49.
• Beam reported a quarterly loss of $1.18 per share, worse than the $1.11 consensus estimate, while revenue of $0.49 million fell far short of expectations and declined 94.2% year over year.
• The stock opened at $27.48, below its 50-day moving average of $30.61, while insiders sold approximately $10.5 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BEAM. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 price target on Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BEAM opened at $27.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 16.99. Beam Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $15.60 and a 1-year high of $38.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.95 and a beta of 2.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.98.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $0.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 54.75% and a negative return on equity of 30.71%. Beam Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.00) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total transaction of $8,867,466.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 854,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,132,596.58. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total value of $429,008.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,815.04. This trade represents a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,130,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 416,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,538,000 after acquiring an additional 118,421 shares in the last quarter. Canal Insurance CO acquired a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $953,000. Ishara Investments LP bought a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $1,386,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company's stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: BEAM is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing precision genetic medicines through its pioneering base editing platform. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional research facilities in Philadelphia, the company focuses on engineering molecular editors capable of making precise single-nucleotide changes in DNA. By harnessing its proprietary base editing technology, Beam aims to correct or disrupt disease-causing genetic variants at their source, offering the potential for novel therapies in areas with significant unmet medical need.

Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Harvard University and the Broad and Whitehead Institutes, Beam was co-founded by leading academic researcher David R.

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