Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Has $524,000 Position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,765 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $19,772,000. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 15,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,039,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $293,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $53.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.59 and a beta of 1.89. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.62.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRSP. Chardan Capital cut their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $75.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $71,661.60. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 83,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,573.20. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,895 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 254,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,262,789.91. This represents a 16.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 56,213 shares of company stock worth $3,810,458 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.30% 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.