Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRNX) Short Interest Up 5.3% in October

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen F. Betz sold 1,035 shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,531,664. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Marc Wilson sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total transaction of $1,277,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 111,092 shares in the company, valued at $5,677,912.12. This trade represents a 18.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,410 shares of company stock worth $2,275,929. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Crinetics Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.8 %

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $1.51 on Tuesday, reaching $55.21. 440,559 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 783,773. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.37. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $29.23 and a twelve month 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.91) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.01) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Crinetics Pharmaceuticals will post -3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.