Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) Trading Down 3.3% Following Insider Selling

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) shares were down 3.3% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $23.17 and last traded at $23.20. Approximately 171,266 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,372,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.98.

Specifically, CEO John M. Evans sold 18,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $581,617.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,058,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,004,560.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Beam Therapeutics news, insider Amy Simon sold 7,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $229,954.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 86,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,782,136.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 18,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $581,617.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,058,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,004,560.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,239 shares of company stock valued at $2,602,129. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. TheStreet raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $42.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Beam Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.18.

Beam Therapeutics Trading Down 2.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -13.16 and a beta of 1.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.65 and its 200-day moving average is $27.89.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.21. Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 37.33% and a negative return on equity of 15.46%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.33) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 69.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Beam Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEAM. Darwin Global Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $70,032,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 3,137.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,246,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207,699 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,358,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,187,000 after purchasing an additional 715,911 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,358,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,093,000 after purchasing an additional 715,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 9,393,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,702,000 after purchasing an additional 609,998 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

About Beam Therapeutics

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.