Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Wedbush from $28.00 to $30.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wedbush‘s price target points to a potential upside of 7.62% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. William Blair upgraded Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.10.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ BEAM opened at $27.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -31.74 and a beta of 2.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 14.57 and a current ratio of 14.57. Beam Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $20.23 and a 52-week high of $38.26.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($1.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.17) by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $0.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.75 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 30.71% and a negative net margin of 54.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 96.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.10) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Evans sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.57, for a total transaction of $589,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,047,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,682,621.85. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 15.6% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 4,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 123.6% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 180,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,304,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Beam Therapeutics by 1,372.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,167 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 is a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines for patients with serious diseases. The company’s platform uses base editing, a form of gene editing designed to make targeted changes to individual DNA letters without creating double-strand breaks. Beam is also advancing related editing technologies and delivery systems intended to improve the precision and effectiveness of genetic treatments.

Beam’s pipeline includes investigational programs for diseases such as sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and glycogen storage disease type Ia.