CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 3.9% – Time to Sell?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) fell 3.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $40.82 and last traded at $41.63. 586,834 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 2,241,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRSP. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 3.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.65.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $50,819.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,516.46. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.