Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases New Position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $120,897.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 77,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,288,822.60. This represents a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $40.89 on Wednesday. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $73.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.36 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.32.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its 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 net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. On average, analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CRISPR Therapeutics 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.