490,206 Shares in CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 490,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,706,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,649,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,128,000 after purchasing an additional 55,511 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,270,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,082,000 after buying an additional 859,334 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,764,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,467,000 after buying an additional 1,201,600 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,524,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,366,000 after buying an additional 180,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,364,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,253,000 after buying an additional 66,556 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRSP. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Chardan Capital increased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 3,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $148,853.96. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 94,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,411,728.24. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 10,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total transaction of $468,735.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 255,501 shares in the company, valued at $11,952,336.78. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,937 shares of company stock worth $1,646,126. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 0.2%

CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $51.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.28 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 17.96, a current ratio of 17.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a twelve month low of $39.81 and a twelve month high of $78.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.11.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($1.28) earnings per share for the quarter. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 13,856.54% and a negative return on equity of 25.66%. The company had revenue of $1.46 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -4.92 EPS for the current year.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

CRISPR Therapeutics AG is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene-editing therapies based on the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. The company applies its proprietary technology to modify genes in human cells, aiming to create durable treatments for a range of serious diseases. Its research and development efforts focus on both ex vivo and in vivo applications, enabling targeted correction or disruption of disease-causing genes.

Among its lead programs is CTX001, an ex vivo edited cell therapy designed to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.