StockNews.com Upgrades CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) to Sell

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) was upgraded by StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $41.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.09 and its 200 day moving average is $45.37. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $73.09.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. Research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Greene acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.85 per share, with a total value of $313,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,950. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $423,054.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,673,353.80. The trade was a 5.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,180,000 after buying an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,029,000 after buying an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,145,000 after buying an additional 816,789 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,608,000 after buying an additional 743,075 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,611,000 after buying an additional 599,304 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.