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

Key Points

• CRISPR Therapeutics AG has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by 19 ratings firms, with two sell, seven hold, and ten buy recommendations.
• Recent insider sales included General Counsel James R. Kasinger selling 1,076 shares and CEO Samarth Kulkarni selling 50,895 shares, both indicating decreases in their positions.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported earnings with an EPS of ($1.29), surpassing the consensus estimate, but with revenues of $0.89 million, significantly below expectations.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.5882.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRSP. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 27th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,076 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $71,661.60. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 83,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,573.20. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,895 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.91, for a total transaction of $3,456,279.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,201 shares in the company, valued at $17,262,789.91. This trade represents a 16.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,213 shares of company stock worth $3,810,458 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,165,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,336 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 35.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,270,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,082,000 after purchasing an additional 859,334 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 76.9% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,764,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 98.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,071,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,789,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025,979 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 182.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,952,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CRSP opened at $67.21 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $61.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.02. The company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.38 and a beta of 1.84. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $78.48.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.29) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.18. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 20.05% and a negative net margin of 1,229.43%.The company had revenue of $0.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.49) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 72.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share 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.

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