Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $74.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $62.53 and last traded at $62.00, with a volume of 320685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.92.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on CRNX. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 14,375 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.63, for a total value of $785,306.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,557,337.41. This trade represents a 33.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Marc Wilson sold 25,000 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total value of $1,277,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 111,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,677,912.12. This represents a 18.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,410 shares of company stock worth $2,275,929 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRNX. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $279,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $200,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,921,000 after buying an additional 22,300 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 75.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 29,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 12,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of -14.67 and a beta of 0.62.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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.