CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 4.7% on Insider Selling

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s share price dropped 4.7% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $45.16 and last traded at $45.65. Approximately 914,670 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 2,389,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.91.

Specifically, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at $9,473,037.60. This trade represents a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRSP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 4.4 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.19 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 18.46% and a negative net margin of 981.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

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.