Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) Shares Up 9.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) shot up 9.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Freedom Capital upgraded the stock to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $104.39 and last traded at $105.3340. 2,997,011 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,080,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.02.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Circle Internet Group from $79.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 target price on Circle Internet Group in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Circle Internet Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Circle Internet Group from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Circle Internet Group in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Heath Tarbert sold 15,000 shares of Circle Internet Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $1,425,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 561,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,333,406.72. This trade represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Rajeev V. Date sold 1,273 shares of Circle Internet Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $120,935.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 152,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,471,160. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 545,874 shares of company stock valued at $52,991,625. 10.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Circle Internet Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRCL. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group in the third quarter worth about $2,491,000. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong lifted its position in shares of Circle Internet Group by 181.1% in the third quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 283,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,648,000 after buying an additional 182,954 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Circle Internet Group in the third quarter worth about $3,248,000. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its position in shares of Circle Internet Group by 20.8% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 302,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,039,000 after buying an additional 52,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Circle Internet Group by 61.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,578,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,624,000 after buying an additional 2,126,072 shares during the last quarter.

Circle Internet Group Stock Up 8.8%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.91. The company has a market cap of $25.78 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.16.

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $770.23 million during the quarter. The firm’s revenue was up 76.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Circle Internet Group, Inc. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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.