Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 10,940 Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,940 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.10% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $5,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRSP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,538,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,843,000 after acquiring an additional 7,635 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 31,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 39,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,468,000 after buying an additional 6,039 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRSP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.71.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRSP stock opened at $57.80 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.55. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52 week low of $37.55 and a 52 week high of $91.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of -21.29 and a beta of 1.70.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($1.43) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.35) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $0.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.67) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 99.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CRISPR Therapeutics news, COO Julianne Bruno sold 3,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.09, for a total transaction of $188,798.94. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,745 shares in the company, valued at $378,327.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.