Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading 5.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM)’s stock price shot up 5.5% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $68.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Beam Therapeutics traded as high as $24.46 and last traded at $24.3930. 513,977 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,944,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.12.

BEAM has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, Tudor Pickering set a $41.00 target price on Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christine Bellon sold 18,629 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 97,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,358,485.18. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in Beam Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4,370.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 48.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. 99.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 6.1%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.45 and a 200 day moving average of $26.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.97 and a beta of 2.12.

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

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.