Baker BROS. Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 55.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,308,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 464,936 shares during the period. CRISPR Therapeutics makes up about 0.5% of Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $51,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,811,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,029,000 after buying an additional 1,074,238 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,329,000 after buying an additional 10,579 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,211,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,685,000 after acquiring an additional 129,746 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Greene purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $44.85 per share, for a total transaction of $313,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $313,950. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 9,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $423,054.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,673,353.80. The trade was a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRSP opened at $38.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.18. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $67.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.75 and a beta of 1.88.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last issued 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 net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.11.

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.