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

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CRSP. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 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 issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.93.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CRSP traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $38.65. 2,182,090 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,521,467. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.76. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of -13.66 and a beta of 1.62. CRISPR Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $0.60 million during 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 previous year, the business earned ($1.41) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at $10,002,854. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,089 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total value of $50,398.92. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 62,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,896,989.16. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,382 shares of company stock valued at $2,744,179. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 17.8% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 35,196 shares during the last quarter. 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.