Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Raised to "Outperform" at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $39.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $27.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BEAM. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Beam Therapeutics from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.91.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Up 11.2 %

Shares of BEAM traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,020,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,232,451. Beam Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $18.85 and a 1-year high of $49.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.71 and a beta of 1.86.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.01). Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 40.56% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $14.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.22) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $1,476,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 938,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,091,011.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.27, for a total value of $1,342,659.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 160,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,210,030.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total transaction of $1,476,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 938,659 shares in the company, valued at $23,091,011.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,784 shares of company stock worth $2,834,485. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEAM. ARCH Venture Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $127,530,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 75.4% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 7,913,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,404,000 after purchasing an additional 3,401,370 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Global Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $70,032,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 59.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,552,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,044,000 after buying an additional 1,328,414 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 3,137.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,246,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,175,000 after buying an additional 1,207,699 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.