Bayforest Capital Ltd Purchases Shares of 12,424 CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd has acquired 12,424 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG, valued at approximately $423,000, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have set various price targets for CRISPR Therapeutics, with Needham & Company LLC maintaining a "buy" rating and a target price of $81.00.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported a loss of ($1.58) EPS for the last quarter, missing analyst estimates, although revenue increased by 71.6% year-over-year.

Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $634,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,329,000 after buying an additional 10,579 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,458,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP traded up $2.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $58.81. 1,677,412 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,572,823. The business's 50 day moving average is $49.63 and its 200-day moving average is $43.41. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.96 and a beta of 1.80. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $71.13.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CRSP shares. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. 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. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, Director Simeon George acquired 989,812 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.03 per share, with a total value of $51,499,918.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,730,179 shares in the company, valued at $90,021,213.37. This trade represents a 133.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider directly owned 6,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,083.92. This represents a 39.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.