Congress Asset Management Co. MA Buys 24,303 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 60.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,605 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,303 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $4,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 2,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Merlin Capital Inc raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Merlin Capital Inc now owns 9,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on CRSP shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 19,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.91, for a total value of $1,173,157.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 208,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,468,589.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ CRSP traded down $3.36 on Friday, hitting $56.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,019,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,124,239. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $37.55 and a 52-week high of $91.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.68 and a beta of 1.78.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($1.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.35) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $0.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.53 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 99.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.67) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.