CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,552 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $1,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRSP. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 182.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,952,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,452,000 after buying an additional 1,262,560 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,165,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,929,000 after buying an additional 1,192,336 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 98.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,071,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,789,000 after buying an additional 1,025,979 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 6,769.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 583,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,864,000 after acquiring an additional 575,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 115.3% during the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 484,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,589,000 after acquiring an additional 259,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRSP shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wedbush lowered their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.84.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP opened at $51.55 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.94 and a 200-day moving average of $53.74. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of -9.23 and a beta of 1.89.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($1.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.32) by $0.15. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 21.23% and a negative net margin of 1,273.70%.The firm had revenue of $0.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.74 million. On average, research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $71,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 83,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,573.20. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,895 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.91, for a total value of $3,456,279.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,262,789.91. This trade represents a 16.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,213 shares of company stock valued at $3,810,458. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.