Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 28,084 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics AG by 94.1%, owning approximately 57,919 shares worth about $1.97 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Other institutional investors have also raised their stakes in CRISPR, with T. Rowe Price increasing its holding by 39.2% and Baker BROS. Advisors LP by 55.1% in the last quarter.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($1.29), beating analyst estimates by $0.18, though revenue fell short at $0.89 million compared to expected $6.44 million.

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) by 94.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,919 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,084 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.07% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $1,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,029,000 after buying an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,145,000 after buying an additional 816,789 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,308,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,483,000 after buying an additional 464,936 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,211,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,685,000 after buying an additional 129,746 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 306,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,055,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Simeon George purchased 989,812 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.03 per share, with a total value of $51,499,918.36. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,730,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,021,213.37. The trade was a 133.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP traded up $1.23 on Tuesday, reaching $56.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,799,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,575,951. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 1.80. The company's fifty day moving average is $51.96 and its 200 day moving average is $44.00.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRSP shares. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.60.

CRISPR Therapeutics 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.