Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $84.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $73.11.

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CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of CRSP traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.24. 1,267,141 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,624,142. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $67.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $41.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.75 and a beta of 1.85.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $120,897.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 77,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,288,822.60. The trade was a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total transaction of $1,013,472.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,473,037.60. This trade represents a 9.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock worth $1,608,243 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,145,000 after acquiring an additional 816,789 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,329,000 after buying an additional 10,579 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.