Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Ten analysts rate CRNX an average of "Moderate Buy" (1 sell, 8 buy, 1 strong buy) with a mean 1‑year price target of $76.63.
• Quarterly results: Crinetics reported EPS of -$1.29, beating estimates of -$1.37 with revenue of $6.16M versus $4.32M, but the company remains unprofitable with negative margins/ROE and an expected FY EPS of -4.9.
• Ownership and insider trades: Insiders sold 142,380 shares (about $5.57M) in the last three months while institutional investors own roughly 98.51% of the company.

Shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.6250.

CRNX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

CRNX stock opened at $39.10 on Thursday. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $25.83 and a 52-week high of $57.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.91 and a beta of 0.30.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($1.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.37) by $0.08. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 6,046.22% and a negative return on equity of 41.46%. The company had revenue of $6.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.88) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Stephen F. Betz sold 10,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total transaction of $396,570.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 137,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,123,464.37. This represents a 7.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.15, for a total transaction of $180,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $589,245. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 142,380 shares of company stock valued at $5,569,475 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRNX. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 59,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 6,148 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 347,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,658,000 after buying an additional 22,305 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $124,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 11.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 78,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,247,000 after buying an additional 8,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 20.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 60,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,731,000 after buying an additional 10,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company's stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases. The company's proprietary platform leverages insights into hormone receptor signaling to design small-molecule candidates that address conditions driven by dysregulated hormone activity. Crinetics' research efforts center on targeting somatostatin, vasopressin and other GPCR-mediated pathways with orally bioavailable molecules intended to improve patient convenience and adherence.

The company's lead product candidate, paltusotine (formerly CRN04777), is a selective, non-peptide somatostatin receptor type 2 agonist being evaluated for the treatment of acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome diarrhea.

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