Short Interest in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) Rises By 5.3%

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,940,000 shares, a growth of 5.3% from the October 15th total of 6,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 661,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dana Pizzuti sold 14,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.63, for a total transaction of $785,306.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,557,337.41. The trade was a 33.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen F. Betz sold 1,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.50, for a total value of $53,302.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 68,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,664. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,410 shares of company stock worth $2,275,929 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 264.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,978,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,526,000 after buying an additional 1,434,909 shares in the last quarter. Artal Group S.A. acquired a new stake in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,088,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 27.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,823,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,966,000 after acquiring an additional 814,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 9,840.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 497,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,261,000 after purchasing an additional 492,000 shares during the period. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.8 %

CRNX traded up $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.21. The company had a trading volume of 440,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 783,773. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.37. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $29.23 and a 52 week high of $62.53.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.01) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.75 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CRNX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 16th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.18.

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.