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

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,310,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the October 15th total of 11,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 890,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.8 days.

Beam Therapeutics Price Performance

BEAM stock opened at $24.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.83. Beam Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $20.84 and a fifty-two week high of $49.50.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.52 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.22) earnings per share. Beam Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In related news, President Giuseppe Ciaramella sold 51,110 shares of Beam Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.36, for a total transaction of $1,347,259.60. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 109,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,194. This trade represents a 31.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.60, for a total value of $1,476,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 938,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,091,011.40. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,894 shares of company stock valued at $4,181,745. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BEAM. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Beam Therapeutics by 2,648.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 200.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 350.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. 99.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BEAM shares. Leerink Partners raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Beam Therapeutics from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.91.

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.