Insider Selling: Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) CEO Sells $739,317.24 in Stock

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) CEO John Evans sold 30,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.58, for a total value of $739,317.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,047,205 shares in the company, valued at $25,740,298.90. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ BEAM opened at $25.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.19 and a beta of 2.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.42. Beam Therapeutics Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.54 and a twelve month high of $36.44.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.13) by $3.46. The business had revenue of $114.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.22 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.65% and a negative net margin of 57.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 280.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.09) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 24.8% in the 3rd 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 bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,212,000. MWG Caph Ltd bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,119,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,228,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 237.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,171,977 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BEAM shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Beam Therapeutics from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Tudor Pickering set a $41.00 target price on Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.36.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.