CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP Shares Sold by Baker BROS. Advisors LP

Key Points

• Baker BROS. Advisors LP reduced its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 50% in the latest quarter, holding only 0.76% of the company with a value of $22.26 million.
• Director Simeon George made a significant purchase, acquiring 989,812 shares for approximately $51.5 million, increasing their ownership by 133.69%.
• Wall Street analysts have shown optimism, with firms raising price targets for the stock; estimates range between $42.00 and $80.00 and the current average target price is $71.60.

Baker BROS. Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 654,099 shares of the company's stock after selling 653,912 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP owned about 0.76% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $22,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 272.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,337 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Simeon George purchased 989,812 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $52.03 per share, for a total transaction of $51,499,918.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,730,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,021,213.37. This represents a 133.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.60.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $51.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of -9.55 and a beta of 1.81. The company's 50-day moving average price is $55.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.37. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.13.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.29) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $0.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,229.43% and a negative return on equity of 20.05%. CRISPR Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was up 72.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.49) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current 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.

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