CRISPR Therapeutics’ (CRSP) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $65.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $56.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Price Performance

CRSP stock opened at $47.49 on Friday. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $63.68. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.51 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.48 and a 200 day moving average of $40.47.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.43) earnings per share. CRISPR Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 71.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $141,316.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,068 shares in the company, valued at $218,083.92. This represents a 39.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 60.2% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 13,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $423,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $66,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,560 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 34.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 136,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,645,000 after purchasing an additional 34,883 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 6,769.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 583,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,864,000 after purchasing an additional 575,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

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.