CRISPR Therapeutics Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CRSP)

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 19,856 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 168% compared to the average volume of 7,405 call options.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $141,316.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,083.92. This represents a 39.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 182.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,952,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,560 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,074,238 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,145,000 after acquiring an additional 816,789 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 6,769.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 583,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,864,000 after acquiring an additional 575,235 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRSP shares. Chardan Capital dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $84.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.53.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRSP opened at $44.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.83 and a beta of 1.75. CRISPR Therapeutics has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $63.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day moving average is $40.79.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 20.08% and a negative net margin of 1,023.64%. CRISPR Therapeutics’s revenue was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.43) EPS. Analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.