CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $99.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $60.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 127.64% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of CRISPR Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.30.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4 %

CRSP stock opened at $43.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.06 and its 200 day moving average is $46.25. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $91.10.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 118.13% and a negative return on equity of 12.15%. On average, research analysts forecast that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 15,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,540 shares in the company, valued at $10,002,854. This trade represents a 7.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,973,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,180,000 after buying an additional 1,474,439 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,743,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,145,000 after acquiring an additional 816,789 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 743.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 843,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,608,000 after purchasing an additional 743,075 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 599,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,458,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

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.