Wall Street Zen Upgrades Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) to Hold

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on BEAM. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Beam Therapeutics from $37.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 5.7%

NASDAQ:BEAM opened at $27.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.24 and a 200 day moving average of $24.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.23 and a beta of 2.07. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $13.52 and a 52 week high of $36.44.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.12). Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 42.86% and a negative net margin of 744.41%.The business had revenue of $9.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Beam Therapeutics news, insider Christine Bellon sold 18,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,358,485.18. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2.2% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 3.0% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 26,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.