CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Short Interest Down 5.0% in June

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,870,000 shares, a decline of 5.0% from the May 31st total of 15,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.1 days.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $53.12 on Wednesday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $37.55 and a fifty-two week high of $91.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $56.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($1.43) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.35) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $0.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.67) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 99.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 3,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.09, for a total value of $188,798.94. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $378,327.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 19,582 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.91, for a total transaction of $1,173,157.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 208,122 shares in the company, valued at $12,468,589.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 3,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.09, for a total value of $188,798.94. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,745 shares in the company, valued at $378,327.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 31.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.9% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 40,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Spear Holdings RSC Ltd bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $11,246,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $334,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 451.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 27,915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.71.

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.