CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock Price Down 0.9% - Time to Sell?

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $42.80 and last traded at $43.04. 308,445 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,277,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CRSP. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.11.

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CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.42 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.77.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, Director John Greene acquired 7,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $44.85 per share, with a total value of $313,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $313,950. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. The trade was a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Market Strategies LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $461,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 2,047.4% during the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company's stock worth $47,383,000 after acquiring an additional 35,196 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company's stock worth $140,611,000 after acquiring an additional 599,304 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company's stock worth $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.

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.