CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading 2.8% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) traded up 2.8% on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $89.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRISPR Therapeutics traded as high as $57.19 and last traded at $57.11. 273,490 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,825,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.56.

CRSP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Chardan Capital upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $61.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total transaction of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 57,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,570,747.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.26, for a total value of $219,206.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 60,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,701,078.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total value of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 57,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,570,747.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,992 shares of company stock worth $9,157,835 in the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.8% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 32.7% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 80.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 22,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 2.0 %

The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.09 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.29.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.95. The company had revenue of $201.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.72 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3253.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.41) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -6.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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.