Citigroup Cuts CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Price Target to $82.00

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Citigroup from $89.00 to $82.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 56.82% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CRSP. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Chardan Capital dropped their target price 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.40.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRSP traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.29. The stock had a trading volume of 6,006,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,073. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.98. CRISPR Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $36.52 and a fifty-two week high of $91.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.48 and a beta of 1.67.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. As a group, analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,474,439 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after acquiring an additional 23,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.