Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Price Down 8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Beam Therapeutics shares fell 8% on Thursday, trading as low as $29.64 and well below the prior close of $31.85, though volume was far lighter than normal.
• Despite the selloff, Wall Street remains generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $46.83, even as one analyst kept a sell rating.
• The company recently posted a quarterly earnings beat, reporting -$0.91 EPS versus estimates of -$1.03 and revenue of $31.74 million, up 323.2% year over year, but it still expects a full-year loss.

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) fell 8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $29.64 and last traded at $29.2940. 400,179 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 2,025,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BEAM. Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.83.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 16.99 and a current ratio of 16.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -43.82 and a beta of 2.26.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.91) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.03) by $0.12. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 39.66% and a negative return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $31.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.23) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 323.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,078 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total value of $739,317.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,047,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,740,298.90. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Amy Simon sold 6,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total transaction of $164,686.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 102,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,525,226.30. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,544 shares of company stock worth $1,899,942. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 55,780.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 33,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 33,468 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 438,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,564,000 after buying an additional 42,609 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $201,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 30,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 128,874 shares of the company's stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 40,583 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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