CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 2% After Insider Selling

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s stock price was down 2% on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $49.31 and last traded at $49.44. Approximately 584,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,371,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.43.

Specifically, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $1,013,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at $9,473,037.60. This trade represents a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRSP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 5.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.96 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 18.46% and a negative net margin of 981.54%. Research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 690,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,166,000 after purchasing an additional 13,865 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 101,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,999,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 53,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after buying an additional 8,120 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.