Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $56.77, but opened at $55.10. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $55.10, with a volume of 308 shares.

Specifically, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $28,316.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,919,427.56. The trade was a 0.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 9th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.18.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $55.48 and its 200 day moving average is $51.71.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.01) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRNX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,575,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,349,000 after acquiring an additional 72,624 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $499,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 1,224.8% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 79,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after buying an additional 73,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors. The company's lead product candidate is paltusotine, an oral selective nonpeptide somatostatin receptor type 2 agonist, which is in Phase 3 trial for the treatment of acromegaly; and Phase 2 trial for treating carcinoid syndrome associated with neuroendocrine tumors.