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

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Barclays boosted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.37. CRISPR Therapeutics has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $73.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 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 value of $423,054.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,673,353.80. The trade was a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Market Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $461,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 57,696 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,383,000 after buying an additional 35,196 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after buying an additional 599,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.