Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $84.32 and last traded at $84.3450, with a volume of 585762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. JonesTrading cut shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore lowered shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.74 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.58.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($1.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.18) by $0.04. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 1,189.88% and a negative return on equity of 44.22%. The company had revenue of $25.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.84 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.23) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2336.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Coelho Rogerio Vivaldi sold 3,000 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $769,000. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephanie Okey sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total value of $246,123.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,288. This represents a 51.88% 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. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $365,179,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 44.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,381,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,683 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 488.9% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,648,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,869 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,933,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 268.3% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,139,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,381,000 after purchasing an additional 829,963 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.