Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX)

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 2,077 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 499% compared to the typical daily volume of 347 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,400 shares in the company, valued at $228,288. The trade was a 51.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $769,000. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRNX. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,381,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,683 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,933,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,736,000 after buying an additional 1,163,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,520,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,227,000 after buying an additional 79,560 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% during the third quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 2,550,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,240,000 after buying an additional 207,221 shares during the period. Finally, Siren L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 1,903,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,140,000 after buying an additional 396,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,063,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,040,895. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.29 and a beta of 0.23. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $83.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.03.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by ($0.01). Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2,747.18% and a negative return on equity of 43.96%. The business had revenue of $10.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.04) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2873.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRNX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.27.

More Crinetics Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s $85-per-share cash offer represents a major premium and is the main reason CRNX shares jumped. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The deal validates Crinetics’ approved rare-disease drug PALSONIFY and late-stage pipeline asset Atumelant, making the company more attractive as a strategic acquisition target. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst downgrades to Hold indicate reduced upside from current levels now that the stock is trading close to the acquisition price. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investigation headlines from law firms are adding headline risk, but they do not change the announced terms of the deal. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple broker downgrades and “hold” ratings suggest limited additional upside unless the deal changes or a competing bid emerges. Article Title

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.