Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 10 brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $76.13.
• The company’s latest quarterly results showed a loss of $1.23 per share, slightly worse than expectations, while revenue of $10.73 million came in above estimates and rose sharply year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, with executives including Stephen F. Betz and Jeff E. Knight selling shares over the past few months; meanwhile, institutional investors own 98.51% of the stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.1250.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday. Lifesci Capital upgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $97.00 to $95.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $36.77 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.17 and a beta of 0.28. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $25.83 and a fifty-two week high of $57.99.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $10.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.51 million. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 43.96% and a negative net margin of 2,747.18%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.04) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Crinetics Pharmaceuticals news, insider Stephen F. Betz sold 10,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.37, for a total transaction of $396,570.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 137,101 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeff E. Knight sold 85,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $3,415,036.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,289 shares in the company, valued at $4,222,088.90. The trade was a 44.72% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 142,380 shares of company stock valued at $5,569,475 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 280.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,734 shares of the company's stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 24,878 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 13.9% in the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 195,701 shares of the company's stock worth $7,108,000 after purchasing an additional 23,871 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $218,000. Siren L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,903,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,140,000 after acquiring an additional 396,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916 shares during the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

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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