CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.11.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CRSP shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP stock opened at $37.73 on Friday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $67.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.09 and a 200-day moving average of $43.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 1.85.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Greene purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.85 per share, for a total transaction of $313,950.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $313,950. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,145,000 after buying an additional 816,789 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,029,000 after buying an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,329,000 after acquiring an additional 10,579 shares during the period. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 55.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,308,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,483,000 after acquiring an additional 464,936 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.