Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading Up 5.5% - Here's What Happened

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.44 and last traded at $17.93. 95,762 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 1,371,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BEAM shares. Bank of America raised Beam Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 2.02. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $22.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.73.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $30.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 90.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at $24,306,628.25. This trade represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $136,413.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 190,216 shares in the company, valued at $3,490,463.60. The trade was a 3.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 73,771 shares of company stock worth $1,605,698. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 816.0% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,409 shares of the company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 3,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 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.