Versant Venture Management LLC Sells 349,727 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP

Versant Venture Management LLC lowered its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 70.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 148,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 349,727 shares during the quarter. CRISPR Therapeutics accounts for about 4.5% of Versant Venture Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Versant Venture Management LLC’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $9,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 333.3% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd bought a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 6,967 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total transaction of $366,324.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 226,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,888,653.48. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total transaction of $111,048.96. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 85,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,475,346.70. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 99,079 shares of company stock valued at $5,643,674 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRSP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.24.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

CRSP opened at $53.98 on Tuesday. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $78.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of -8.28 and a beta of 1.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $53.79 and its 200 day moving average is $57.23.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $0.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 26.31% and a negative net margin of 16,569.77%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 97.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics AG is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene-editing therapies based on the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. The company applies its proprietary technology to modify genes in human cells, aiming to create durable treatments for a range of serious diseases. Its research and development efforts focus on both ex vivo and in vivo applications, enabling targeted correction or disruption of disease-causing genes.

Among its lead programs is CTX001, an ex vivo edited cell therapy designed to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.