Millennium Management LLC Buys 575,235 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG by 6,769.1% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 575,235 shares, bringing its total ownership to about $19.86 million.
• Several hedge funds, including ARK Investment Management and Vanguard Group, have also boosted their positions in CRISPR Therapeutics, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported a loss of ($1.29) EPS, surpassing expectations, but its revenue fell short of analyst estimates by a significant margin, totaling only $0.89 million for the quarter.

Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) by 6,769.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 583,733 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 575,235 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.68% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $19,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $861,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 30.0% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,810 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 28.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 142,696 shares of the company's stock worth $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 31,392 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 5.9% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,562,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,187,000 after buying an additional 86,813 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,321,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRSP. Zacks Research upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.50.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP traded up $3.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $62.94. 2,782,046 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,827,758. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.59 and a beta of 1.81. The business's 50-day moving average price is $57.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.18. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $71.13.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported ($1.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $0.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 72.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.49) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, Director Simeon George bought 989,812 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.03 per share, with a total value of $51,499,918.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,730,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,021,213.37. This trade represents a 133.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.