CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,480,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the December 15th total of 9,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.9 days. Approximately 14.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 25,000 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.81, for a total value of $1,370,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 290,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,910,191.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 75,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,744,250 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On CRISPR Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRSP. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 21.0% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 737 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. HC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. HC Advisors LLC now owns 7,432 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% during the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 18,726 shares of the company's stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. 71.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 11th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I assumed coverage on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $79.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. JMP Securities dropped their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $100.00 to $70.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $90.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CRISPR Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.22.

CRISPR Therapeutics Trading Up 4.1 %

CRSP traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.61. 899,061 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 996,654. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $49.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.64 and a beta of 1.77. CRISPR Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $38.94 and a 1-year high of $86.95.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The company reported ($2.24) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.30) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $0.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 million. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 31.34% and a negative net margin of 4,831.79%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics will post -9.25 EPS for the current year.

CRISPR Therapeutics Company Profile

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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.

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