CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shares were up 0.8% during trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $89.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRISPR Therapeutics traded as high as $57.50 and last traded at $56.59. Approximately 332,941 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,825,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.16.

CRSP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $61.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total value of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 57,371 shares in the company, valued at $4,570,747.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total transaction of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 57,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,570,747.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total transaction of $1,607,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 187,377 shares in the company, valued at $15,057,615.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,992 shares of company stock valued at $9,157,835. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $229,000. InTrack Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $522,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 113.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,379,000 after buying an additional 41,903 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 129.4% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 10,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 5,784 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.34.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.95. The business had revenue of $201.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.41) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3253.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -6.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.