CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 6.8%

CRSP opened at $38.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.87 and a beta of 1.88. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $67.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.33.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 18.46% and a negative net margin of 981.54%. CRISPR Therapeutics’s revenue was up 71.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.43) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $120,897.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 77,530 shares in the company, valued at $3,288,822.60. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $50,819.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,516.46. This represents a 12.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243 over the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,180,000 after buying an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,029,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,145,000 after acquiring an additional 816,789 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 6,769.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 583,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,864,000 after purchasing an additional 575,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,308,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,483,000 after purchasing an additional 464,936 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics is a gene-editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases.