CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 2% After Insider Selling

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shares traded down 2% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $49.31 and last traded at $49.44. 584,895 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,371,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.43.

Specifically, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRSP shares. Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -10.96 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.04.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 158.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,825,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after buying an additional 5,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently 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.