Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of CRISPR Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:CRSP)

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 13,128 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 59% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,282 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 158.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,825,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,906,000 after buying an additional 5,567 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP traded down $2.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,663,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,425,037. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -10.95 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $42.16 and its 200 day moving average is $46.07. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. Equities research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRSP shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Chardan Capital cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.40.

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.