Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) had its price target raised by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential downside of 25.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CRSP. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.60.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of -10.38 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.72. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.13.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.29) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $0.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,229.43% and a negative return on equity of 20.05%. CRISPR Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 72.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.49) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $141,316.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,068 shares in the company, valued at $218,083.92. The trade was a 39.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Simeon George purchased 989,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.03 per share, for a total transaction of $51,499,918.36. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,730,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,021,213.37. This trade represents a 133.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 24.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 22,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 6,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 394 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.