Insider Selling: CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) General Counsel Sells 2,850 Shares of Stock

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,850 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $120,897.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 77,530 shares in the company, valued at $3,288,822.60. This represents a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 3.4 %

CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $41.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.63. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $75.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 1.77.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,632,000 after buying an additional 23,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CRSP shares. StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised CRISPR Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Chardan Capital cut their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.11.

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.