John M. Evans Sells 30,000 Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $802,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. The trade was a 3.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:BEAM opened at $25.75 on Wednesday. Beam Therapeutics Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.84 and a 12 month high of $49.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.48 and its 200 day moving average is $25.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of -14.63 and a beta of 1.92.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.01). Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.22) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 38.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 137,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,212,000 after buying an additional 32,279 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 28,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 10,900 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BEAM. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.67.

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.