Investors Buy Large Volume of Beam Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity: Investors traded 2,316 Beam Therapeutics call options, 139% above the average volume of 968 contracts.
• Shares fell sharply: BEAM declined 12.7% to $25.90, while the company reported quarterly revenue of just $0.49 million and an adjusted loss of $1.18 per share, both missing analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: Ten analysts rate the stock a Buy, versus two Holds and one Sell, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $49 average price target.

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 2,316 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 139% compared to the average volume of 968 call options.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 12.7%

Shares of BEAM stock traded down $3.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $25.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,319,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,043,516. Beam Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $19.35 and a 12 month high of $38.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 14.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.97. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.10 and a beta of 2.22.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $0.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 94.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.00) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,205,815.04. This trade represents a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Fmr Llc sold 251,488 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.26, for a total value of $8,867,466.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 854,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,132,596.58. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 301,527 shares of company stock valued at $10,468,500 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 4,370.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BEAM. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Tudor Pickering set a $39.00 price target on Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Beam Therapeutics Company 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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