Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Down 10.6% - Here's What Happened

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) traded down 10.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.60 and last traded at $19.86. 481,629 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 1,280,464 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BEAM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jones Trading upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 7.2 %

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.68 and a beta of 2.02.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.16. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The firm had revenue of $30.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 90.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,663 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $562,666.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,097,669.15. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christine Bellon sold 5,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $104,117.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,344.90. The trade was a 4.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,771 shares of company stock worth $1,605,698. Insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,068,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,287,000 after buying an additional 536,930 shares during the last quarter. Casdin Capital LLC increased 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 worth $31,000,000 after acquiring an additional 475,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% in the third 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 period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,957,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,109,000 after purchasing an additional 404,782 shares during the period. 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.