CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shares dropped 1.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $40.52 and last traded at $41.55. Approximately 799,523 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 2,291,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRSP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 2.7 %

The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.94 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.52 and its 200-day moving average is $45.89.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $1,013,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,473,037.60. This represents a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Greene purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.85 per share, for a total transaction of $313,950.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,950. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. Capital Market Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $461,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 57,696 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,383,000 after purchasing an additional 35,196 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $1,825,000. Institutional investors 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.