CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 4.1% – Time to Sell?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shares were down 4.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $49.22 and last traded at $50.86. Approximately 1,325,701 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 2,376,089 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRSP shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 4.6 %

The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.60 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.04.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total value of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,002,854. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,145,000 after purchasing an additional 816,789 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,029,000 after buying an additional 1,074,238 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,611,000 after buying an additional 599,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after acquiring an additional 23,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% 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.