Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Down 2.7% - Time to Sell?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $15.36 and last traded at $16.42. Approximately 480,276 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,948,351 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BEAM shares. Scotiabank upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jones Trading raised Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.75.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of -8.94 and a beta of 2.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $17.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,663 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $562,666.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,097,669.15. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $136,413.90. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 190,216 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,463.60. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,771 shares of company stock valued at $803,198. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BEAM. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 7.2% during 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. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company's stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,094,000 after acquiring an additional 19,453 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.