Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.04), FiscalAI reports.

Crescent Biopharma Stock Performance

Crescent Biopharma stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 282,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,067. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.51 and a 200-day moving average of $15.81. Crescent Biopharma has a one year low of $8.72 and a one year high of $27.41. The stock has a market cap of $413.95 million, a PE ratio of -1.38 and a beta of 1.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 42,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total value of $761,066.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 281,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,059,003.88. This trade represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, COO Jonathan Mcneill sold 20,549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $369,676.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 139,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,503,452.42. This trade represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 68,156 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,126 over the last three months. Insiders own 24.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in Crescent Biopharma during the 4th quarter valued at $17,790,000. Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter valued at $13,975,000. Tang Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 872,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,347,000 after buying an additional 192,574 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the third quarter valued at about $7,822,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,187,000. Institutional investors own 75.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CBIO. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Crescent Biopharma from a “sell (e)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.40.

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.