CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Upgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other analysts have also commented on CRSP. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $56.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $84.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 6.8%

CRSP stock opened at $38.77 on Friday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $67.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -8.87 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.39.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.43) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 71.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $423,054.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,673,353.80. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $350,516.46. This represents a 12.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243 over the last 90 days. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.