Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) Shares Down 8% – Here’s Why

Shares of Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) traded down 8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.19 and last traded at $15.1250. 37,051 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 293,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBIO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen upgraded Crescent Biopharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Crescent Biopharma in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crescent Biopharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.60.

Crescent Biopharma Trading Down 15.5%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.54. The stock has a market cap of $516.25 million, a P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 1.24.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crescent Biopharma, Inc. will post -2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crescent Biopharma

In other news, CEO Joshua Brumm sold 7,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $130,956.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 271,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,541,193.15. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, COO Jonathan McNeill sold 3,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 134,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,248,965.48. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold a total of 16,726 shares of company stock worth $285,501 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 24.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crescent Biopharma

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BVF Inc. IL grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,360,900 shares in the last quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Crescent Biopharma by 0.5% during the 2nd 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. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,892,000. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. bought a new position in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,899,000. Finally, NEXTBio Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,422,000. 75.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Crescent Biopharma

Crescent Biopharma, Inc (NASDAQ: CBIO) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative therapies for the treatment of serious diseases. The company’s activities center on research, preclinical development and clinical evaluation of investigational drug candidates.

Crescent Biopharma does not appear to have commercially marketed products. Its pipeline consists of experimental therapies intended to address significant unmet medical needs, although detailed information about specific candidates, therapeutic areas and development stages may be limited in publicly available sources.

The company is headquartered in the United States and serves the biopharmaceutical market through its drug-development programs and potential future partnerships.