Short Interest in Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) Grows By 21.7%

Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,160,000 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the February 28th total of 9,990,000 shares. Approximately 15.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Beam Therapeutics

In other Beam Therapeutics news, insider Christine Bellon sold 1,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.68, for a total value of $30,627.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,541,250.24. The trade was a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John M. Evans sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $802,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 908,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,306,628.25. The trade was a 3.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beam Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BEAM. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 9,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 2.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in shares of Beam Therapeutics by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 11,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Beam Therapeutics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 137,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BEAM shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Beam Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America upgraded Beam Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Jones Trading raised shares of Beam Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.45.

Beam Therapeutics Stock Down 9.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BEAM opened at $17.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.02 and a beta of 1.91. Beam Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $17.55 and a 52 week high of $35.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.80.

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $0.16. Beam Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.22% and a negative net margin of 41.07%. The company had revenue of $30.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 90.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Beam Therapeutics will post -4.57 EPS for the current year.

Beam Therapeutics Company Profile

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.