Royal Bank Of Canada Boosts CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Price Target to $42.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for CRISPR Therapeutics from $38.00 to $42.00, maintaining a "sector perform" rating, indicating a potential downside of 23.28% from the current stock price.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported a loss of ($2.40) EPS for the last quarter, which was below analyst expectations, while its revenue was up 72.5% year-over-year, but fell short of estimates.
• Institutional ownership of CRISPR Therapeutics stands at 69.20%, with various institutions recently buying shares, indicating a sustained interest in the company despite the stock's volatility.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target indicates a potential downside of 25.45% from the stock's current price.

CRSP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.60.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $50.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.38 and a beta of 1.80. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $71.13.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $0.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 20.05% and a negative net margin of 1,229.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 72.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.49) earnings per share. Analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $141,316.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,083.92. The trade was a 39.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Simeon George purchased 989,812 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.03 per share, for a total transaction of $51,499,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,730,179 shares in the company, valued at $90,021,213.37. The trade was a 133.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 149,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,893,000 after buying an additional 42,232 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company's stock worth $68,329,000 after buying an additional 10,579 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,458,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,883,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 220,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,664,000 after acquiring an additional 17,094 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

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.