Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Shares Down 2.6% - Should You Sell?

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $27.93 and last traded at $28.07. 24,646 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 1,222,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BEAM shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partners upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.31 and a beta of 1.90. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.53.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.52 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. Beam Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.27, for a total transaction of $1,342,659.70. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 160,260 shares in the company, valued at $4,210,030.20. This represents a 24.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $1,476,000.00. Following the completion of 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 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,894 shares of company stock worth $4,181,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company's stock worth $44,297,000 after buying an additional 78,102 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 37,001 shares of the company's stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% during 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. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $262,000. 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.