CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Chardan Capital lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $61.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $74.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock traded up $1.17 on Thursday, hitting $62.91. 1,040,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,889. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.10 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.88. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $37.55 and a 1-year high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.95. The firm had revenue of $201.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $148.72 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3253.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.41) EPS. Research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -6.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total transaction of $3,025,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 187,377 shares in the company, valued at $11,338,182.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total transaction of $3,025,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 187,377 shares in the company, valued at $11,338,182.27. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raju Prasad sold 3,524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.69, for a total transaction of $256,159.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,740.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,410 shares of company stock worth $9,234,677. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $90,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 40.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 91,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,716,000 after buying an additional 26,358 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 79.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,278,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,038,000 after buying an additional 1,007,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 49.3% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company's stock.

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.