Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $97.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $49.99 and last traded at $49.99, with a volume of 5776 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.66.

CRNX has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Jonestrading lifted their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 15,089 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $664,821.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,224,251.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Crinetics Pharmaceuticals news, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 15,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.06, for a total transaction of $664,821.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,224,251.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Scott Struthers sold 40,951 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.17, for a total value of $2,013,560.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 237,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,694,346.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,216 shares of company stock worth $8,509,397. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRNX. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 98.2% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.67.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by ($0.01). Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 52.93% and a negative net margin of 4,223.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.84) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

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.