CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading 2.8% Higher - Here's What Happened

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 2.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.48 and last traded at $43.16. 244,018 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,193,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.11.

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CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 1.76.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 1,198 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $50,819.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $350,516.46. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. This represents a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 34,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 47,696 shares of the company's stock worth $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,669 shares of the company's stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.