Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (CBIO) - What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts broadly favor Crescent Biopharma: six firms give the stock a consensus “Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $32.40 versus a recent price of $14.91.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: institutional investors hold 75.19% of the company, with BlackRock and several other firms recently establishing new positions. Insiders sold shares, but the transactions were conducted under pre-arranged plans to cover tax withholding.
• Crescent Biopharma reported quarterly EPS of -$0.74, in line with expectations, while analysts project a full-year loss of $2.93 per share. The stock has traded between $8.72 and $27.41 over the past year.

Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.40.

CBIO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised Crescent Biopharma from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Crescent Biopharma to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jonathan McNeill sold 3,839 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $64,149.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 134,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,248,965.48. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, CEO Joshua Brumm sold 7,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $130,956.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 271,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,541,193.15. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 16,726 shares of company stock valued at $285,501 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 24.84% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crescent Biopharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the second quarter worth $720,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Crescent Biopharma in the first quarter valued at about $2,810,000. Exome Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Crescent Biopharma in the first quarter valued at about $2,814,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma in the second quarter worth about $22,892,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma in the second quarter worth about $824,000. 75.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crescent Biopharma Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CBIO opened at $14.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $553.76 million, a P/E ratio of -2.22 and a beta of 1.27. Crescent Biopharma has a twelve month low of $8.72 and a twelve month high of $27.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.77 and a 200 day moving average of $17.75.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.74). As a group, equities analysts expect that Crescent Biopharma will post -2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crescent Biopharma Company Profile

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