Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 5,269.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,010 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,464 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.10% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $3,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Market Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $461,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 57,696 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 8.1% during the third 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 lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CRSP opened at $53.02 on Thursday. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a twelve month low of $36.52 and a twelve month high of $91.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.13 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.04.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total value of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,854. This represents 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. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRSP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.

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.