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

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) shares 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 traded.

Specifically, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CRNX. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 27th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment 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, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.18.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.48 and a 200 day moving average of $51.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.09 and a beta of 0.62.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.01) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,575,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,349,000 after purchasing an additional 72,624 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 1,224.8% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 79,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after buying an additional 73,084 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 17.0% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,112,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,764,000 after buying an additional 885,876 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,793,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,754,000 after buying an additional 13,470 shares during the period. Finally, First Turn Management LLC bought a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $16,541,000. 98.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.