CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Short Interest Update

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,100,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the December 31st total of 18,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 11.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRSP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.59.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Performance

CRISPR Therapeutics stock opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.13 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.95. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its 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 business had revenue of $0.60 million during 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 period last year, the business posted ($1.41) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CRISPR Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.10, for a total transaction of $826,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,002,854. The trade was a 7.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,611,000 after purchasing an additional 599,304 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after purchasing an additional 23,075 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,383,000 after acquiring an additional 35,196 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the third quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,608,000 after buying an additional 743,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 724,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,025,000 after buying an additional 6,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% 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.