Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $80.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 238.27% from the company’s previous close.

BEAM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. William Blair raised Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.10.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of BEAM opened at $23.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a current ratio of 14.57. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.50 and a beta of 2.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.59. Beam Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $20.23 and a 1 year high of $38.26.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.11) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $0.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.37 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 54.75% and a negative return on equity of 30.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 94.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.00) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,815.04. The trade was a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Effects LLC grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 10,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 123.6% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 0.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 180,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 7.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 1,372.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

Beam Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines using base editing, a technology designed to make targeted changes to DNA without cutting both strands of the DNA double helix. The company’s platform is intended to address diseases caused by specific genetic mutations and to support the development of potentially durable treatments.

Beam’s research and development activities focus on areas including hematology, liver diseases and genetic disorders.