Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 9% Higher - Here's Why

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) shares were up 9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.92 and last traded at $16.87. Approximately 689,703 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 1,384,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BEAM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jones Trading upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Up 2.3 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.86. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.66 and a beta of 2.02.

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

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other Beam Therapeutics news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of Beam Therapeutics 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 190,216 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,490,463.60. The trade was a 3.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $24,306,628.25. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,698 over the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 32.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,038 shares of the company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 1.6% in the first quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 51,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 11.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 141,204 shares of the company's stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 14,971 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 549.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 31,463 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 901.2% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 208,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 187,455 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.