James Kasinger Sells 3,450 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Stock

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) General Counsel James Kasinger sold 3,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $166,497.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 91,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,403,242.40. The trade was a 3.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP stock traded up $1.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.09. 1,870,722 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,999,385. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $78.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.68 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.25.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.01) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 97.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,522,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,777,000 after buying an additional 735,084 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 5,950,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,026,000 after acquiring an additional 968,060 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,892,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,016,000 after acquiring an additional 243,487 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 35.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,270,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,082,000 after acquiring an additional 859,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSK plc bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $168,890,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRSP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Chardan Capital upped their price objective on CRISPR Therapeutics from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.53.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

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.