Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $81.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CRSP. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 26th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $56.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.75.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 7.1%

NASDAQ CRSP opened at $54.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of -12.13 and a beta of 1.82. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $63.68.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.31). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,023.64% and a negative return on equity of 20.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.43) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 71.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Naimish Patel sold 3,932 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRSP. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 272.4% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.