CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $32.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Approximately 3,378,007 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 2,039,215 shares.The stock last traded at $51.21 and had previously closed at $43.49.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.50.

Insider Transactions at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 181,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,002,854. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,439 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,145,000 after purchasing an additional 816,789 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,608,000 after buying an additional 743,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after buying an additional 599,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,458,000. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.07 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released 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 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.