Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading Down 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) were down 7.6% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $31.72 and last traded at $31.65. Approximately 777,645 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 2,243,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BEAM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “speculative buy” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.80.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 2.07.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $9.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.83 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 42.86% and a negative net margin of 744.41%.Beam Therapeutics’s revenue was down 32.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.17) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, insider Christine Bellon sold 18,629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.61, for a total transaction of $644,749.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 97,038 shares in the company, valued at $3,358,485.18. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 24.8% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 11,038,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190,993 shares in the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $37,212,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 237.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,665,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,977 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,101,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 2,889,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,147,000 after buying an additional 493,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

Beam Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: BEAM) is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing precision genetic medicines through its pioneering base editing platform. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional research facilities in Philadelphia, the company focuses on engineering molecular editors capable of making precise single-nucleotide changes in DNA. By harnessing its proprietary base editing technology, Beam aims to correct or disrupt disease-causing genetic variants at their source, offering the potential for novel therapies in areas with significant unmet medical need.

Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Harvard University and the Broad and Whitehead Institutes, Beam was co-founded by leading academic researcher David R.