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

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,680,000 shares, a drop of 10.8% from the November 15th total of 11,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $1,476,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 938,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,091,011.40. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $1,347,259.60. Following the transaction, the president now owns 109,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,194. This represents a 31.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,894 shares of company stock worth $4,181,745. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Beam Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $400,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,807,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,297,000 after acquiring an additional 78,102 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 37,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Beam Therapeutics by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,929,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,274,000 after acquiring an additional 437,402 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Beam Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Beam Therapeutics stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 879,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,329. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.87 and a beta of 1.90. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $20.84 and a 52 week high of $49.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.30.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.01). Beam Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 41.07% and a negative return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $14.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.22) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BEAM. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.40.

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.