CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Up 8% on Analyst Upgrade

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s share price was up 8% during mid-day trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $82.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRISPR Therapeutics traded as high as $52.78 and last traded at $52.85. Approximately 415,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,723,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.93.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRSP. Chardan Capital dropped their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,201 shares in the company, valued at $8,082,926.23. The trade was a 30.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.0% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.0% during the second quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 8.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.52 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.44.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $0.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 21.23% and a negative net margin of 1,273.70%.The company’s revenue was down 97.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.01) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.