CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $105.00. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 123.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Chardan Capital raised their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.53.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

CRSP traded up $0.75 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.17. 270,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,963,501. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.25. CRISPR Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $78.48. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.54 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $3,613,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,082,926.23. This trade represents a 30.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $147,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 87,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,636,632. This represents a 3.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 111,677 shares of company stock worth $6,308,848 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL acquired a new position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $398,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $862,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.