CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Raised to Sell at StockNews.com

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays cut their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.93.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CRSP opened at $45.40 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.29. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $43.42 and a fifty-two week high of $91.10. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.04 and a beta of 1.62.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.41. The company had revenue of $0.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.65 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 12.15% and a negative net margin of 118.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.41) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SFE Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the second quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 5,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 4.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Boston Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2.2% in the third quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 9,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 26,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 35.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.