CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Trading 3.4% Higher - What's Next?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 3.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $55.88 and last traded at $53.97. 2,162,156 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 2,321,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRSP. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 5.0 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.25 and a 200 day moving average of $46.06. The company 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company's stock worth $353,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,439 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,238 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings 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. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company's stock worth $39,608,000 after purchasing an additional 743,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company's stock worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.