CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,023 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,254 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $2,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 303.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,970 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $80,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 91.1% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $423,054.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,890 shares in the company, valued at $7,673,353.80. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $50,819.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,263 shares in the company, valued at $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,021 shares of company stock worth $594,771 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3%

CRISPR Therapeutics stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.11. The company had a trading volume of 456,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,928. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $67.88. The company's fifty day moving average is $37.24 and its 200-day moving average is $42.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 1.88.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.43) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRSP shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.75.

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.