CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.11.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRSP. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI raised CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $50,819.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % 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 18,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $1,013,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 21,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 9,652 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $32.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.47 and a beta of 1.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.15 and its 200 day moving average is $44.64. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $30.96 and a 12-month high of $67.88.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current 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.