CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Down 1.8% After Insider Selling

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s stock price fell 1.8% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $56.75 and last traded at $56.90. 296,744 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,831,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.96.

Specifically, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.67, for a total value of $152,408.71. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 57,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,570,747.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,913 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 57,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,570,747.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total value of $3,025,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 187,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,338,182.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,992 shares of company stock valued at $9,157,835. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRSP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.29.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.34.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.95. The firm had revenue of $201.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.72 million. CRISPR Therapeutics’s revenue was up 3253.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.41) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -6.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 80.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 582 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 545.5% during the third quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.