CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.40.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $50.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.07. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.55 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,180,000 after buying an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,145,000 after acquiring an additional 816,789 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,238 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after buying an additional 23,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.