First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Beam Therapeutics Inc. $BEAM

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP more than doubled its Beam Therapeutics position in the first quarter, increasing holdings by 111% to 135,166 shares worth approximately $3.22 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.68% of BEAM.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00, despite targets ranging from $39 to $80 and one sell rating.
• Beam reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, including an adjusted loss of $1.18 per share versus a $1.11 estimate and revenue of $0.49 million versus expectations of $16.37 million. Insiders also sold more than 301,000 shares worth about $10.5 million over the past three months.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Free Report) by 111.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,166 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 71,110 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.13% of Beam Therapeutics worth $3,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Wealth Effects LLC grew its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 48.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ BEAM opened at $27.25 on Friday. Beam Therapeutics Inc. has a one year low of $15.60 and a one year high of $38.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.72 and a 200 day moving average of $28.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.69 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 16.99 and a current ratio of 14.57.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $0.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.Beam Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.00) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 854,583 shares in the company, valued at $30,132,596.58. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Beam Therapeutics Profile

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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