Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Upgraded to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a positive shift in sentiment for the company's stock.
• Barclays lowered its price target for Beam Therapeutics from $25.00 to $21.00, while the stock has a consensus price target of $48.45 from research analysts.
• Beam Therapeutics shares experienced a 12.6% increase in value following reports of favorable developments like licensing payments in gene therapy.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Beam Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.40.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Up 8.4%

BEAM traded up $1.67 on Friday, reaching $21.55. The stock had a trading volume of 3,271,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,126. Beam Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $13.52 and a 12-month high of $35.25. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.25. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 2.14.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.00) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $13.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.11) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, insider Fmr Llc sold 48,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $991,667.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,073,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,510,132.50. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 49,624 shares of company stock worth $1,015,628 over the last three months. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 468.3% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 138,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 114,349 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $765,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 4,726,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,403,000 after acquiring an additional 456,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 216.6% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 28,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 19,265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company's stock.

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.