Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Shares Down 6.1% – Time to Sell?

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX)’s stock price dropped 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $33.14 and last traded at $32.94. Approximately 108,772 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 813,171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -8.90 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.86.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.04. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other Crinetics Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Richard Scott Struthers sold 17,338 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.20, for a total transaction of $592,959.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 329,147 shares in the company, valued at $11,256,827.40. The trade was a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 2,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.20, for a total value of $86,013.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,470,368.60. The trade was a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,015 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,263. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRNX. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 207,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,614,000 after buying an additional 89,358 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 61.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,390,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,815,000 after purchasing an additional 528,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,848,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,458,000 after buying an additional 169,746 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 4,084.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 542,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,735,000 after buying an additional 529,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 482,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,635,000 after buying an additional 37,429 shares during the period. 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.