Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 2,206 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,614 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $2,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRSP. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 303.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $80,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $50,819.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $423,054.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,673,353.80. This represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRSP stock opened at $39.18 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.28. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $71.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRSP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.11.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

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.