Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 173.78% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. William Blair upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.10.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of BEAM traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.74. 293,874 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,040,518. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.60 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 has a twelve month low of $20.23 and a twelve month high of $38.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.59.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Amy Simon sold 16,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.74, for a total transaction of $429,008.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,815.04. This trade represents a 16.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEAM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $308,796,000. ARCH Venture Management LLC purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $155,771,929. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Beam Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $34,467,000. MWG Caph Ltd acquired a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $35,119,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Beam Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $24,733,000. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.