CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $84.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 118.98% from the company's previous close.

CRSP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised CRISPR Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.38.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CRSP traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,486,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,497. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.37. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $36.52 and a 12-month high of $91.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.55 and a beta of 1.62.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $0.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.41) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.62, for a total transaction of $1,668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 196,540 shares in the company, valued at $10,931,554.80. This represents a 13.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.