Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.40.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CBIO shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Crescent Biopharma from a “sell (e)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

Crescent Biopharma Stock Performance

Crescent Biopharma stock opened at $16.30 on Monday. Crescent Biopharma has a 1-year low of $8.72 and a 1-year high of $27.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.68.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.36 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Crescent Biopharma will post -3.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crescent Biopharma

In related news, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 42,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total value of $761,066.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,059,003.88. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, COO Jonathan Mcneill sold 20,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total value of $369,676.51. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 139,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,503,452.42. This trade represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,156 shares of company stock worth $1,226,126. 24.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crescent Biopharma

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BVF Inc. IL raised its holdings in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,748,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,900 shares during the last quarter. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth about $19,899,000. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth about $17,790,000. Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new position in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth about $13,975,000. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crescent Biopharma by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 872,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,347,000 after purchasing an additional 192,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.19% of the company’s stock.

About Crescent Biopharma

Crescent Biopharma, Inc (NASDAQ: CBIO) is a clinical?stage immuno?oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for patients with solid tumors. The company’s research strategy centers on combination approaches that enhance anti?tumor immune responses by simultaneously targeting multiple pathways implicated in immune evasion and tumor growth.

The company’s lead candidate, CPB-201, is a bifunctional fusion protein designed to block programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) while neutralizing transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-?), with the goal of restoring T-cell activity and reducing tumor fibrosis.