CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading 2.8% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) rose 2.8% on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $89.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRISPR Therapeutics traded as high as $57.19 and last traded at $57.11. Approximately 273,490 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,825,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.56.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Chardan Capital increased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 19,582 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 $12,468,589.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CFO Raju Prasad sold 3,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.69, for a total transaction of $256,159.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,476 shares in the company, valued at $470,740.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 19,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.91, for a total value of $1,173,157.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 208,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,468,589.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 133,992 shares of company stock worth $9,157,835. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 40.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 91,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 26,358 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 79.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,278,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,246 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 49.3% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of -28.09 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.26 and a 200-day moving average of $63.29.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.95. The business had revenue of $201.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.72 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3253.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.41) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -6.24 EPS 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.