Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $10 Million Stock Holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics AG $CRSP

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 34.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,295 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,947 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of CRISPR Therapeutics worth $10,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRSP. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 71.4% during the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 504 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in CRISPR Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics by 333.3% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CRSP shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on CRISPR Therapeutics from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.24.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 2.6%

CRSP opened at $60.14 on Monday. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $78.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.22 and a beta of 1.71.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported ($1.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by ($0.22). CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 26.31% and a negative net margin of 16,569.77%.The business had revenue of $0.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 97.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $3,613,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,082,926.23. The trade was a 30.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total value of $111,048.96. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 85,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,475,346.70. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 99,079 shares of company stock worth $5,643,674 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CRISPR Therapeutics Profile

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 ?-thalassemia in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.