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

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened 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 trading hands.

Specifically, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,919,427.56. The trade was a 0.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRNX. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.18.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 0.62.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted ($1.01) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,390,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,815,000 after acquiring an additional 528,688 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,848,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,458,000 after purchasing an additional 169,746 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 207,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,614,000 after purchasing an additional 89,358 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,748,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,838,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,047,000 after buying an additional 25,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

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.