Investors Purchase Large Volume of Beam Therapeutics Put Options (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 10,060 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,089% compared to the typical daily volume of 846 put options.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BEAM traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.52. 1,222,061 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,386,227. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.18 and a 200 day moving average of $24.74. Beam Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $13.53 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.09 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $30.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Beam Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank raised Beam Therapeutics from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christine Bellon sold 5,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $104,117.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,152,344.90. This trade represents a 4.61 % 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 link. Also, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,698 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 20.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,266,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,332,000 after purchasing an additional 309,260 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 32.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 11.9% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 141,204 shares of the company's stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 14,971 shares during the last quarter. 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.