Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group initiated coverage on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating and a $55 price target, implying about 42% upside from the stock’s current level.
• Other analysts remain largely constructive: the stock has a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $73.78 average price target, though individual targets vary widely.
• Crinetics reported its latest quarterly results with revenue of $10.73 million topping expectations, while EPS was roughly in line; the company continues to post losses as it advances its clinical-stage rare endocrine disease pipeline.

Equities research analysts at UBS Group began coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 42.19% from the stock's current price.

CRNX has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.78.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of CRNX stock opened at $38.68 on Thursday. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $25.83 and a fifty-two week high of $57.99. The stock's fifty day moving average is $36.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.54 and a beta of 0.23.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.22) by ($0.01). The business 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%.Crinetics Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.04) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at $228,288. This trade represents a 51.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 105,289 shares in the company, valued at $4,222,088.90. This represents a 44.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 941,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,214,000 after buying an additional 77,380 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 279.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,258,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,426,000 after buying an additional 926,765 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $2,841,000. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 98.4% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 674,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,400,000 after acquiring an additional 334,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 24.2% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,770,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.51% of the company's stock.

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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