CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading Up 4.7% – Here’s Why

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s share price was up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.73 and last traded at $46.50. Approximately 495,549 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,338,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Chardan Capital cut their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.36 and a 200 day moving average of $45.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.98 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its 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, equities analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,854. This trade represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,145,000 after purchasing an additional 816,789 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,608,000 after purchasing an additional 743,075 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.