Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $55.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CRNX. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.64.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CRNX opened at $38.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.87. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.51 and a twelve month high of $62.53.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.01) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crinetics Pharmaceuticals news, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,919,427.56. This trade represents a 0.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRNX. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.