Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Beam Therapeutics was downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting increased concerns about the stock's performance.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" from analysts, with a current average target price of $46.40.
• Beam reported a net margin of -661.31% and a revenue decline of 28% compared to the same quarter last year, raising concerns about its financial health.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on BEAM. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of BEAM traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,195,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,764,064. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.04. Beam Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $13.52 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.73 and a beta of 2.14.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.00) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.04) by $0.04. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 661.31% and a negative return on equity of 43.15%. The company had revenue of $8.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.11) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Fmr Llc sold 48,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $991,667.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,073,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,510,132.50. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 49,624 shares of company stock valued at $1,015,628 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,480,089 shares of the company's stock worth $165,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,060 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,026,701 shares of the company's stock worth $59,112,000 after buying an additional 1,273,559 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,871,292 shares of the company's stock worth $173,256,000 after buying an additional 1,249,303 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,101,000. Finally, EcoR1 Capital LLC acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $10,286,000. 99.68% of the stock is 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.