CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

CRSP has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.93.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $38.65 on Monday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $38.20 and a fifty-two week high of $91.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.48 and a 200 day moving average of $49.76.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.42) by $0.41. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 12.15% and a negative net margin of 118.13%. The firm had revenue of $0.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.41) EPS. Analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $1,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 196,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,931,554.80. This represents a 13.24 % 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, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total transaction of $50,398.92. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 62,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,989.16. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,382 shares of company stock valued at $2,744,179 over the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 95.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 565 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 848 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other 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.