Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Buy by HC Wainwright

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $80.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 231.72% from the company’s current price.

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

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of BEAM stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.12. 776,336 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,041,469. Beam Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $20.23 and a fifty-two week high of $38.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.59. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.02 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 14.57 and a quick ratio of 14.57.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total value of $429,008.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,815.04. This represents a 16.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 123.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,309,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 448.7% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after buying an additional 52,238 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $535,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

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.