Samarth Kulkarni Sells 50,895 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock

Key Points

• Samarth Kulkarni, CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics, sold 50,895 shares of the company stock for approximately $3.46 million, reducing his share ownership by 16.68%.
• The company's stock recently traded at $73.97, showing a significant increase in trading volume compared to its average.
• CRISPR Therapeutics reported a quarterly revenue of $0.89 million, which was below expectations yet showed a 72.5% year-over-year increase.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,895 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.91, for a total value of $3,456,279.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,262,789.91. The trade was a 16.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Samarth Kulkarni also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 14th, Samarth Kulkarni sold 4,242 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $282,517.20.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CRSP traded up $4.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $73.97. 2,683,399 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,580,189. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.62 and a beta of 1.84. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $60.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.23. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $78.48.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CRSP shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $78.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,165,400 shares of the company's stock worth $345,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,336 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $416,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 39,189 shares of the company's stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 4,914 shares during the last quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,769,709 shares of the company's stock worth $60,223,000 after acquiring an additional 33,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

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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