Capital International Investors Buys 1,702,624 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 27.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,837,074 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,702,624 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned approximately 9.23% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $534,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,536,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,360,000 after buying an additional 1,372,986 shares in the last quarter. SR One Capital Management LP bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $71,496,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,661,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,848,000. Finally, PBCay One RSC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $10,329,000. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ CRSP traded up $0.35 on Friday, hitting $57.92. 866,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,603,022. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.29 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.57. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $37.55 and a 52-week high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($1.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.35) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $0.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.67) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 99.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CRSP. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 3,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.09, for a total value of $188,798.94. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,745 shares in the company, valued at $378,327.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

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.