Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX)

Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 66.94% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 16th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.4 %

NASDAQ:CRNX opened at $35.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 0.58. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $31.84 and a 1 year high of $62.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.97.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.04. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard Scott Struthers sold 17,338 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.20, for a total value of $592,959.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 329,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,256,827.40. This represents a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 5,000 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.07, for a total transaction of $195,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,240,394.36. This represents a 13.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,015 shares of company stock worth $1,119,263 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRNX. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 76,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after acquiring an additional 12,072 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $17,117,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 77,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 4,440 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

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.