Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) Upgraded to “Hold” at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CRCL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Circle Internet Group from $80.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Circle Internet Group from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Circle Internet Group in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Compass Point upgraded Circle Internet Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $97.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Circle Internet Group in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Circle Internet Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.38.

Circle Internet Group Stock Performance

NYSE CRCL opened at $64.56 on Wednesday. Circle Internet Group has a one year low of $49.90 and a one year high of $262.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.17.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.06). Circle Internet Group had a negative net margin of 2.76% and a positive return on equity of 2.89%. The business had revenue of $694.13 million for the quarter. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Circle Internet Group will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Circle Internet Group

In other Circle Internet Group news, insider Nikhil Chandhok sold 489,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.37, for a total transaction of $35,442,266.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 521,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,763,317.33. This trade represents a 48.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, Director Patrick Sean Neville sold 1,034,396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.87, for a total transaction of $85,720,396.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,231.66. The trade was a 99.81% 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 sold 1,901,114 shares of company stock worth $153,007,135 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Circle Internet Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Circle Internet Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Circle Internet Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,474,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,640,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,649,000.

More Circle Internet Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Circle Internet Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Circle completed a second ARC token presale, which may indicate continued progress on its crypto product expansion. Circle Internet Group completes second ARC token presale
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts still see meaningful upside for Circle, with comments that the stock remains attractive relative to long-term sales growth even after the recent selloff.
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna and Compass Point initiated or reiterated neutral views, suggesting the market is still weighing Circle’s growth potential against valuation and regulatory/competitive risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Patrick Sean Neville sold 50,000 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, a large reduction that can weigh on sentiment even though it was disclosed as Rule 10b5-1 activity.
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Tamara L. Schulz and insider Hossein Razzaghi also sold shares, reinforcing concerns that company insiders are trimming exposure while the stock is under pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports about rising stablecoin competition and Visa’s Open USD push are making investors question whether Circle’s stablecoin economics and long-term competitive advantage are at risk.

About Circle Internet Group

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) is a financial technology company that builds infrastructure to enable businesses and developers to use and move money on public blockchains. Co-founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, the company is best known as a principal issuer and steward of USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin developed through the CENTRE Consortium, which Circle co-founded with Coinbase. Jeremy Allaire serves as CEO and has been a visible leader in the company’s strategy and public engagement around digital currency and payments innovation.

Circle’s core products and services center on digital currency issuance and programmable payments.