Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Wolfe Research downgraded the stock from a peer perform rating to an underperform rating. Wolfe Research now has a $30.00 price target on the stock. Corcept Therapeutics traded as low as $36.00 and last traded at $35.9490, with a volume of 1855704 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.19.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CORT. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Corcept Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Corcept Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Corcept Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Corcept Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Corcept Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

Insider Activity at Corcept Therapeutics

In other news, insider William Guyer sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.94, for a total value of $1,798,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,512.78. The trade was a 79.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph K. Belanoff sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.77, for a total transaction of $3,190,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,701,370 shares in the company, valued at $215,488,284.90. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $15,474,198 in the last 90 days. 20.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Corcept Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Corcept Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company says it will meet with the FDA to discuss next steps for relacorilant, creating a possible regulatory path forward (could mitigate some downside if the meeting yields a clear path or resubmission plan). Benzinga: FDA setback
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading in CORT was temporarily halted this morning pending news, reflecting market nervousness and contributing to the abrupt price move (resume could see continued volatility).
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider option activity: Gary Charles Robb exercised options worth about $10.96M, an execution that may be routine or strategic depending on whether shares were sold. Benzinga: Robb exercise
• Neutral Sentiment: Major executive exercise: Joseph K. Belanoff exercised options worth roughly $41.5M; large insider option exercises can be neutral to mixed in signal depending on follow-up sales. Benzinga: Belanoff exercise
• Negative Sentiment: FDA declined to approve relacorilant for the targeted rare hormonal disorder — the fundamental regulatory setback is the main driver of the selloff and increased risk to near-term revenue expectations. Reuters: FDA declines approval
• Negative Sentiment: Major negative headlines and commentary (stock plunge coverage) are amplifying selling pressure and investor fear. Investing.com: Stock plunges after FDA rejects drug
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity: traders bought ~6,120 put contracts (≈324% above typical put volume), signaling speculative/hedging downside bets that can accelerate declines and volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: Wolfe Research cut CORT to “underperform” with a $30 target, adding downward pressure from investor-facing research. The Fly: Wolfe Research downgrade

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corcept Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 546.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,209 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $125,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274,215 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,048,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $79,464,000 after buying an additional 136,254 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Corcept Therapeutics by 223.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 849,864 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,632,000 after acquiring an additional 587,053 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Corcept Therapeutics by 10.7% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 847,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,403,000 after acquiring an additional 81,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.61% of the company’s stock.

Corcept Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.68 and a beta of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.58. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.02). Corcept Therapeutics had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The company had revenue of $207.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Corcept Therapeutics

Corcept Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs that modulate the effects of cortisol, a hormone implicated in a range of severe metabolic, oncologic and psychiatric disorders. The company’s scientific platform centers on selectively targeting the glucocorticoid receptor to counteract the harmful consequences of excess cortisol, a strategy designed to address diseases with significant unmet medical needs.

The company’s flagship marketed product, Korlym (mifepristone), is approved in the United States for the treatment of hyperglycemia secondary to Cushing’s syndrome in patients who have type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance and are not candidates for surgery.