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

Shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. 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 Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $28,316.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRNX shares. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, September 16th. 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.18.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.48 and a 200-day moving average of $51.71.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRNX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,575,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,349,000 after buying an additional 72,624 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $499,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Artal Group S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,088,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.