CRISPR Therapeutics’ (CRSP) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $84.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 116.22% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on CRSP. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.38.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of CRSP stock opened at $38.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.48. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $36.52 and a 1 year high of $91.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.73 and a beta of 1.68.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.42) by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $0.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.65 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 12.15% and a negative net margin of 118.13%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.41) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total value of $826,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at $10,002,854. This represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRSP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CRISPR Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.