Baker BROS. Advisors LP Purchases 743,075 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 743.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 843,075 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 743,075 shares during the quarter. CRISPR Therapeutics makes up about 0.4% of Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $39,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRSP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,636,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,564,000 after purchasing an additional 46,148 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 67,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,628,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 451.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after buying an additional 27,915 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $334,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.9% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 40,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 1,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.28, for a total transaction of $50,398.92. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 62,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,989.16. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total value of $1,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 196,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,931,554.80. This trade represents a 13.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,382 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,679 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CRSP shares. Chardan Capital dropped their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $112.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.94.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

CRSP opened at $51.17 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.08 and a beta of 1.67. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 12 month low of $43.42 and a 12 month high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.41. The company had revenue of $0.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.65 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 12.15% and a negative net margin of 118.13%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.41) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.14 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.