T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) by 39.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,811,708 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,074,238 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 4.47% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $150,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRSP. Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 20,097 shares of the company's stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 20,636 shares of the company's stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,252 shares of the company's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 10,682 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.07. 793,126 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,637,110. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $67.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of -8.71 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.39.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. Sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $423,054.66. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $50,819.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRSP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.11.

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.