Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $17.33, but opened at $16.68. Crescent Biopharma shares last traded at $16.6490, with a volume of 3,856 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CBIO. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Friday. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crescent Biopharma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Crescent Biopharma Stock Down 1.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.00. The company has a market capitalization of $609.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 1.23.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74). Equities analysts expect that Crescent Biopharma, Inc. will post -2.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jonathan Mcneill sold 20,549 shares of Crescent Biopharma stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $369,676.51. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 139,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,503,452.42. This trade represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 42,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $761,066.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,059,003.88. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,156 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,126. Insiders own 24.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crescent Biopharma

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BVF Inc. IL increased its position in Crescent Biopharma by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,748,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360,900 shares in the last quarter. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth $19,899,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,790,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Crescent Biopharma in the second quarter worth $22,892,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. bought a new position in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth about $13,975,000. 75.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Crescent Biopharma

Crescent Biopharma, Inc (NASDAQ: CBIO) is a clinical‐stage immuno‐oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for patients with solid tumors. The company’s research strategy centers on combination approaches that enhance anti‐tumor immune responses by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways implicated in immune evasion and tumor growth.

The company’s lead candidate, CPB-201, is a bifunctional fusion protein designed to block programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) while neutralizing transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), with the goal of restoring T-cell activity and reducing tumor fibrosis.