CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $49.72, but opened at $52.25. CRISPR Therapeutics shares last traded at $54.02, with a volume of 1,836,140 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRSP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 5.0 %

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $42.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.96 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Market Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $461,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,514 shares of the company's stock worth $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 57,696 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 300,589 shares of the company's stock worth $14,122,000 after acquiring an additional 22,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,383,000 after acquiring an additional 35,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,611,000 after acquiring an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.