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

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.62, but opened at $17.47. Beam Therapeutics shares last traded at $17.46, with a volume of 514,064 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BEAM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.75.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 3.4%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.72 and a beta of 2.08.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.13). Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The business had revenue of $7.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other Beam Therapeutics news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,663 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $562,666.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,097,669.15. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 5,674 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $104,117.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $2,152,344.90. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,771 shares of company stock worth $803,198. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 740,506 shares of the company's stock worth $18,365,000 after buying an additional 49,415 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 20,767 shares of the company's stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 3,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,945 shares of the company's stock worth $16,094,000 after acquiring an additional 19,453 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $461,000. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

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.

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