Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from “strong-buy” to “hold,” joining a broader set of mixed Wall Street opinions. The current consensus rating is also “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $78.27.
• The stock has surged sharply, opening at $83.53 and trading near its 12-month high of $83.63, far above its 12-month low of $25.83. The article also notes the shares are up 98.7% and highlights a market cap of $8.81 billion.
• Recent company developments and insider moves stand out, including a quarterly earnings miss on EPS despite revenue beating estimates. Two directors also sold shares in pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transactions, while institutional ownership remains very high at 98.51%.

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

CRNX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Lifesci Capital downgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.27.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 98.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CRNX opened at $83.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.28 and a beta of 0.23. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $25.83 and a 12-month high of $83.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.76.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 million. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2,747.18% and a negative return on equity of 43.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.04) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other Crinetics Pharmaceuticals news, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the business'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 value of $246,123.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $228,288. This represents a 51.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRNX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 639 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 raised its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,498 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Crinetics Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Crinetics Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex announced a definitive agreement to buy Crinetics for $85 per share in cash, giving shareholders a large acquisition premium and driving the stock sharply higher.
• Positive Sentiment: The deal highlights Crinetics’ approved rare-disease drug PALSONIFY and late-stage pipeline candidate Atumelnant, which made the company attractive as a strategic asset.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised or reaffirmed favorable price targets around the deal price, signaling that analysts see limited downside near the acquisition value.

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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