Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Up 8% - Time to Buy?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $27.79 and last traded at $27.81. 622,444 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 1,111,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Down 0.9 %

The company's 50-day moving average is $26.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.57 and a beta of 1.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $30,627.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at $24,306,628.25. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,287,000 after acquiring an additional 536,930 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,274,000 after purchasing an additional 437,402 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,297,000 after purchasing an additional 78,102 shares during the period. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,518,121 shares of the company's stock worth $37,194,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.