Key Points
- CEO sold $468,735.60: On March 23 Samarth Kulkarni sold 10,020 shares at an average of $46.78, trimming his stake by 3.77% to 255,501 shares; the sale is part of a string of recent insider disposals (including 60,000 on Jan. 22 and 30,000 on Jan. 20).
- EPS miss and weak revenue: CRISPR reported ($1.37) EPS, missing estimates by $0.22, with revenue of $0.86M (down 97.8% YoY) and extremely negative margins, while the company has a market cap of about $4.52 billion.
- Mixed market view but institutional buying: 69.2% of the stock is institutionally owned with recent inflows (e.g., RBC +28.2%), and analysts maintain an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $64.53.
CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) General Counsel James Kasinger sold 3,182 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 94,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,411,728.24. This represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Up 1.4%
NASDAQ CRSP opened at $47.09 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $52.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.95. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $78.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 1.72.
CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.15) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $0.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 16,569.77% and a negative return on equity of 26.31%. The company's revenue was down 97.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 EPS for the current year.
Institutional Trading of CRISPR Therapeutics
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 142,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,856,000 after purchasing an additional 31,392 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $861,000. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 34.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 136,483 shares of the company's stock worth $4,645,000 after buying an additional 34,883 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 16.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,841 shares of the company's stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 2,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 53.6% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.20% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
CRSP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on CRISPR Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CRISPR Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.53.
Read Our Latest Report on CRISPR Therapeutics
Key Stories Impacting CRISPR Therapeutics
Here are the key news stories impacting CRISPR Therapeutics this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights why CRISPR “outpaced the stock market” today, calling attention to recent investor interest and momentum that can attract short-term buying. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: CRISPR has been a “trending” name on Zacks/Yahoo finance pages — elevated attention can boost volume and volatility but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Read More. · Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Multiple short-interest reports show reported short interest of zero shares as of March 24 — the figures appear to contain data or reporting anomalies (NaN increases). Practically, reported zero short interest reduces the likelihood of a short-squeeze narrative, but the data should be treated cautiously until clarified by exchanges or data vendors.
- Negative Sentiment: CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 10,020 shares on March 23 at an average ~$46.78 (≈$468.7K). Insider sales can be interpreted negatively by some investors despite the CEO retaining a substantial stake (255,501 shares). SEC filing: Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: General Counsel James Kasinger sold 3,182 shares on March 23 at the same average price (~$46.78). Additional insider selling amplifies the negative signal for some investors, though both insiders remain significant holders. SEC filing: Read More.
CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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