CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Hits New 12-Month High Following Insider Buying Activity

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $66.49 and last traded at $62.66, with a volume of 2037492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.09.

Specifically, Director Simeon George bought 989,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.03 per share, with a total value of $51,499,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,730,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,021,213.37. The trade was a 133.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRSP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $56.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 18.2%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.67 and its 200 day moving average is $41.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.41 and a beta of 1.82.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly 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 20.08% and a negative net margin of 1,023.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.43) earnings per share. CRISPR Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 23.9% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 24,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 20.9% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 6,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.