Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) to “Buy”

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $55.00 target price on the stock.

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

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CRNX opened at $38.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.87. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.60. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $35.51 and a 52-week high of $62.53.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.01) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeff E. Knight sold 501 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $28,316.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,919,427.56. This trade represents a 0.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRNX. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 885,876 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 4,084.6% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 61.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,390,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,815,000 after buying an additional 528,688 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 358,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,476,000. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

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.