Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the December 15th total of 6,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 776,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,919,427.56. This represents a 0.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 20,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:CRNX traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.35. The stock had a trading volume of 761,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,193. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $35.24 and a 1-year high of $62.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.99. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last released its quarterly 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 last year, the business earned ($1.01) EPS. Research analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CRNX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.40.

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.