CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Raised to Strong-Buy at Truist Financial

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Chardan Capital lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.53.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $47.55 on Wednesday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $78.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.89.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by ($0.22). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 26.31% and a negative net margin of 16,569.77%.The firm had revenue of $0.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.01) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 97.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 3,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $166,497.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 91,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,403,242.40. This represents a 3.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $3,613,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,082,926.23. The trade was a 30.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 141,828 shares of company stock valued at $7,744,397 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 836.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 196.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 576 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics AG is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene-editing therapies based on the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. The company applies its proprietary technology to modify genes in human cells, aiming to create durable treatments for a range of serious diseases. Its research and development efforts focus on both ex vivo and in vivo applications, enabling targeted correction or disruption of disease-causing genes.

Among its lead programs is CTX001, an ex vivo edited cell therapy designed to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.