Oppenheimer Cuts Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Price Target to $84.00

Key Points

• Oppenheimer lowered its price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $87 to $84, while keeping an outperform rating. The new target still implies significant upside from the stock’s recent close.
• Analyst opinion remains mixed overall: recent calls included a Goldman Sachs upgrade to buy, but some firms kept bearish views, leaving the consensus at Moderate Buy with an average target of $76.13.
• Crinetics reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and strong revenue growth, but shares fell on the day. The company also saw notable insider selling, even as institutional ownership remains very high at 98.51%.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer's target price indicates a potential upside of 129.20% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $97.00 to $95.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.13.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CRNX traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $36.65. The company had a trading volume of 512,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,464. The stock's 50 day moving average is $38.41 and its 200-day moving average is $43.89. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $25.83 and a twelve month high of $57.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of -7.15 and a beta of 0.28.

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). 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 analyst estimates of $8.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.04) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Jeff E. Knight sold 85,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $3,415,036.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,222,088.90. This represents a 44.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Tobin Schilke sold 6,713 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.67, for a total value of $266,304.71. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,099,060.07. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 142,380 shares of company stock valued at $5,569,475. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 buying an additional 303,281 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $7,769,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 32.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,066 shares of the company's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $126,000. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company's stock.

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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