Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $13.94, but opened at $14.78. Crescent Biopharma shares last traded at $14.2540, with a volume of 42,725 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBIO shares. HC Wainwright raised Crescent Biopharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Crescent Biopharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.40.

Crescent Biopharma Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $534.54 million, a PE ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.71.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74). On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crescent Biopharma, Inc. will post -2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jonathan McNeill sold 3,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $64,149.69. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 134,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,248,965.48. This trade represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 7,837 shares of Crescent Biopharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $130,956.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,541,193.15. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 16,726 shares of company stock valued at $285,501 over the last three months. 24.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crescent Biopharma

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma during the second quarter valued at $38,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 53.4% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 17,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 0.5% during the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 1,319,351 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,748,000 after purchasing an additional 6,736 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the 1st quarter worth about $187,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the 2nd quarter worth about $197,000. 75.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crescent Biopharma Company Profile