Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,950,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the May 31st total of 13,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BEAM shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $42.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Beam Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.18.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:BEAM traded up $0.91 on Wednesday, reaching $23.48. 718,726 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,833. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $16.95 and a 52 week high of $49.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.19 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.76.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.33) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 69.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Beam Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total value of $1,470,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 998,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,459,403.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BEAM. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 9,393,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,702,000 after purchasing an additional 609,998 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,578,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,402,000 after purchasing an additional 413,892 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 9.9% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,511,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,068,000 after purchasing an additional 406,000 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,358,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,187,000 after purchasing an additional 715,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in Beam Therapeutics by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,358,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,093,000 after acquiring an additional 715,911 shares during the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.