Beam Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 10,060 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,089% compared to the average daily volume of 846 put options.

Insider Activity at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 7,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $136,413.90. Following the sale, the president now owns 190,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,490,463.60. The trade was a 3.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. This represents a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,698 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 9,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 1.6% during the first quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 51,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 11,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 137,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 99.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of BEAM opened at $19.13 on Wednesday. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $13.53 and a 52 week high of $35.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 2.02.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $30.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 million. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. Beam Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was down 90.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

Beam Therapeutics Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in the development of precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States. It develops BEAM-101 for the treatment of sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia; and BEAM-302, a liver-targeting LNP formulation to treat severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; BEAM-201, an anti-CD7 CAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma; and BEAM-301, a liver-targeting LNP formulation for the treatment of glycogen storage disease 1a.