Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Shares Up 8.1% – Should You Buy?

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX)’s stock price traded up 8.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $41.98 and last traded at $41.8150. Approximately 209,193 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,237,097 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRNX shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.78.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.11 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.66.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by ($0.01). Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 43.96% and a negative net margin of 2,747.18%.The firm had revenue of $10.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.04) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2873.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total value of $246,123.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at $228,288. This trade represents a 51.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeff E. Knight sold 85,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $3,415,036.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 105,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,222,088.90. This trade represents a 44.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $30,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $45,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners grew its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases. The company’s proprietary platform leverages insights into hormone receptor signaling to design small-molecule candidates that address conditions driven by dysregulated hormone activity. Crinetics’ research efforts center on targeting somatostatin, vasopressin and other GPCR-mediated pathways with orally bioavailable molecules intended to improve patient convenience and adherence.

The company’s lead product candidate, paltusotine (formerly CRN04777), is a selective, non-peptide somatostatin receptor type 2 agonist being evaluated for the treatment of acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome diarrhea.