Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Cut to "Hold" at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to “Hold” from “Strong Buy,” joining several analysts who recently made similar rating cuts. The stock now has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $81.
• Crinetics shares opened at $83.86, near their 52-week high of $84, after a sharp rise from the 52-week low of $25.83. The company remains unprofitable, reporting a quarterly loss of $1.23 per share despite revenue of $10.73 million.
• Two directors recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans, while institutional investors own 98.51% of the stock. Crinetics is developing oral therapies for rare endocrine diseases, including lead candidate paltusotine.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Lifesci Capital downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JonesTrading lowered Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRNX opened at $83.86 on Monday. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $84.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.35 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.55.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.22) by ($0.01). Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2,747.18% and a negative return on equity of 43.96%. The business had revenue of $10.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.04) earnings per share. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total transaction of $246,123.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $228,288. This represents a 51.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $769,000. The trade was a 13.50% 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. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 639 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners boosted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,498 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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