CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $42.94 and last traded at $42.02. 363,337 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,938,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRSP shares. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.38.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.46.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.41. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. The business had revenue of $0.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,002,854. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after purchasing an additional 23,075 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,383,000 after purchasing an additional 35,196 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,608,000 after buying an additional 743,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 724,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,025,000 after buying an additional 6,635 shares in 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.