Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 910,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,302 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in CRISPR Therapeutics were worth $35,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRSP. 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 worth $353,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,439 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 25.0% during the 3rd 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. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,376,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,632,000 after acquiring an additional 23,075 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,735,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,329,000 after acquiring an additional 10,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CRISPR Therapeutics by 3.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CRISPR Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Samarth Kulkarni sold 18,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.20, for a total value of $1,013,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,473,037.60. This represents a 9.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel James R. Kasinger sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $120,897.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 77,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,288,822.60. The trade was a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,381 shares of company stock valued at $1,608,243. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CRSP opened at $38.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 1.77. CRISPR Therapeutics AG has a 52-week low of $36.52 and a 52-week high of $70.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.23.

CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported ($0.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.71. CRISPR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 981.54% and a negative return on equity of 18.46%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CRISPR Therapeutics AG will post -5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRSP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised CRISPR Therapeutics from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of CRISPR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.11.

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.