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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ CRSP opened at $41.22 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 1.76. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $74.59.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $50,819.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.