Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Upgraded to "Buy" at Bank of America

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $42.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 126.97% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jones Trading upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $49.45.

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Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BEAM traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.51. The stock had a trading volume of 2,132,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,124. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.57 and its 200-day moving average is $25.86. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $35.25. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.52 and a beta of 1.91.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $30.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The company's revenue was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. This trade represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $30,627.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,968 shares in the company, valued at $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company's stock worth $175,287,000 after buying an additional 536,930 shares during the period. Casdin Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Casdin Capital LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000,000 after acquiring an additional 475,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company's stock worth $96,274,000 after acquiring an additional 437,402 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company's stock worth $98,109,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company's stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.