Piper Sandler Downgrades Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) to Hold

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CRNX. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Lifesci Capital cut Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.27.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CRNX opened at $83.53 on Tuesday. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $25.83 and a 52 week high of $83.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.76. The firm has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.28 and a beta of 0.23.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 3,000 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,000. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total value of $246,123.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,288. The trade was a 51.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $45,000. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Crinetics Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Crinetics Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex announced a definitive agreement to buy Crinetics for $85 per share in cash, giving shareholders a large acquisition premium and driving the stock sharply higher.
• Positive Sentiment: The deal highlights Crinetics’ approved rare-disease drug PALSONIFY and late-stage pipeline candidate Atumelnant, which made the company attractive as a strategic asset.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised or reaffirmed favorable price targets around the deal price, signaling that analysts see limited downside near the acquisition value.

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.