CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Up 2.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) shares rose 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $88.00 to $89.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. CRISPR Therapeutics traded as high as $57.19 and last traded at $57.11. Approximately 273,490 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,825,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.56.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CRSP. TheStreet raised CRISPR Therapeutics from a "d+" rating to a "c" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.29.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total value of $1,607,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 187,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,057,615.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total transaction of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 57,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,570,747.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total value of $1,607,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 187,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,057,615.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,992 shares of company stock worth $9,157,835 in the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 194.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 33,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 22,006 shares during the period. Baker Chad R acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $2,365,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 231,925 shares of the company's stock worth $10,527,000 after buying an additional 15,951 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 136,123 shares of the company's stock worth $6,179,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,536,104 shares of the company's stock worth $534,360,000 after buying an additional 1,372,986 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.65 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.34.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.95. The business had revenue of $201.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.41) EPS. CRISPR Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was up 3253.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -6.24 EPS for the current year.

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.