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

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $55.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 40.31% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on CRNX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $72.64.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

CRNX stock opened at $39.20 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.77. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $35.51 and a fifty-two week high of $62.53. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.51 and a beta of 0.60.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.01) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

In related news, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,919,427.56. This trade represents a 0.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 17.0% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,112,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,764,000 after acquiring an additional 885,876 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,455,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,690,000 after purchasing an additional 358,975 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,838,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,047,000 after purchasing an additional 25,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,793,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,754,000 after purchasing an additional 13,470 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 10.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,848,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,458,000 after purchasing an additional 169,746 shares during the period. 98.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.