Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Lowered to "Strong Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from “sell” to “strong sell,” even though the broader analyst consensus remains a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $76.50.
• The company reported mixed quarterly results: EPS of -$1.23 narrowly missed estimates, while revenue of $10.73 million came in above expectations and jumped sharply year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, with the CFO and a director both reducing their holdings, while hedge funds and other institutions still own the vast majority of the stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

CRNX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $97.00 to $95.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.50.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CRNX opened at $37.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.28. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $38.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.89. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $25.83 and a one year high of $57.99.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last issued 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). 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 46.02% and a negative net margin of 2,747.18%.The business's revenue was up 2873.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Tobin Schilke sold 6,713 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.67, for a total transaction of $266,304.71. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,099,060.07. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 5,000 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $589,245. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 142,380 shares of company stock valued at $5,569,475 over the last quarter. 4.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 55.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 852,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,935,000 after acquiring an additional 303,281 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,769,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 32.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 28,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $126,000. 98.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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