CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)’s stock price dropped 3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $42.78 and last traded at $44.17. Approximately 861,832 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 2,232,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRSP. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Down 2.2 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of -9.70 and a beta of 1.77.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at $9,473,037.60. This trade represents a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Greene bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.85 per share, for a total transaction of $313,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $313,950. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during 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 during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,145,000 after buying an additional 816,789 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,608,000 after acquiring an additional 743,075 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.