Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Crescent Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

CBIO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crescent Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Crescent Biopharma from a “sell (e)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th.

Insider Activity at Crescent Biopharma

In related news, COO Jonathan Mcneill sold 20,549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.99, for a total transaction of $369,676.51. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 139,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,503,452.42. The trade was a 12.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, CEO Joshua T. Brumm sold 42,305 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 $761,066.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 281,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,059,003.88. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. 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 68,156 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,126 over the last quarter. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crescent Biopharma

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CBIO. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the 4th quarter worth about $138,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Crescent Biopharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $149,000. HRT Financial LP acquired a new stake in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $155,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Crescent Biopharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,000. Finally, Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crescent Biopharma during the first quarter worth approximately $187,000. 75.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crescent Biopharma Price Performance

Shares of CBIO stock opened at $17.08 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.20. Crescent Biopharma has a one year low of $8.72 and a one year high of $27.41. The stock has a market cap of $470.72 million, a P/E ratio of -1.57 and a beta of 1.20.

Crescent Biopharma (NASDAQ:CBIO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.36 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crescent Biopharma will post -3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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-β), with the goal of restoring T-cell activity and reducing tumor fibrosis.