Bank of America Cuts CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Price Target to $85.00

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $98.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.38.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $41.29 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.88. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $38.20 and a 1-year high of $91.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.59 and a beta of 1.68.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.42) by $0.41. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $0.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.41) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,854. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total transaction of $50,398.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 62,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,896,989.16. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,382 shares of company stock worth $2,744,179 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Market Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $461,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 125,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,913,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.