Wedbush Reiterates "Outperform" Rating for Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO)

Key Points

• Wedbush reiterated its “Outperform” rating on Crescent Biopharma and maintained a $27 price target, implying roughly 50% upside from the reported $17.97 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: MarketBeat reports an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $29.60, while ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Crescent Biopharma reported quarterly EPS of -$0.74, in line with estimates. Institutional investors own 75.19% of the stock, while insiders recently sold shares through pre-arranged plans to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $27.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wedbush's price target points to a potential upside of 50.22% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Crescent Biopharma to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crescent Biopharma has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.60.

Crescent Biopharma Price Performance

Shares of CBIO stock opened at $17.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $667.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 1.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.49. Crescent Biopharma has a 1 year low of $8.72 and a 1 year high of $27.41.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.74). Equities research analysts anticipate that Crescent Biopharma will post -2.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 42,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $761,066.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,059,003.88. This trade represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Jonathan Mcneill sold 20,549 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $369,676.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 139,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,503,452.42. This represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 68,156 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,126 in the last ninety days. 24.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crescent Biopharma

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BVF Inc. IL increased its stake in Crescent Biopharma by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,748,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,900 shares during the period. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the fourth quarter worth $19,899,000. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the fourth quarter worth $17,790,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Crescent Biopharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,892,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,975,000. 75.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crescent Biopharma Company Profile

Crescent Biopharma, Inc NASDAQ: CBIO is a clinical‐stage immuno‐oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for patients with solid tumors. The company's research strategy centers on combination approaches that enhance anti‐tumor immune responses by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways implicated in immune evasion and tumor growth.

The company's lead candidate, CPB-201, is a bifunctional fusion protein designed to block programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) while neutralizing transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), with the goal of restoring T-cell activity and reducing tumor fibrosis.

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