Investors Buy High Volume of CRISPR Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:CRSP)

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 10,886 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 49% compared to the average daily volume of 7,308 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRSP shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 27th. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $141,316.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,068 shares in the company, valued at $218,083.92. This trade represents a 39.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 272.4% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,337 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:CRSP traded down $2.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.80. 2,883,963 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,945,293. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $63.68. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.57 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.28.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,023.64% and a negative return on equity of 20.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.43) EPS. CRISPR Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.