CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives $74.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $74.40.

CRSP has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Chardan Capital cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ CRSP opened at $50.46 on Friday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.55 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.07.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,002,854. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. Capital Market Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $461,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 57,696 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 300,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,122,000 after purchasing an additional 22,583 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.