CRCL Stock Price Target Downgraded as Directors Sell Circle Shares

Circle Internet Group’s CRCL stock price faces renewed selling pressure after downgrades by Wall Street analysts and insider selling by company directors. The stock saw significant profit-taking recently, falling more than 15% over the past month.

Wall Street Analysts’ Forecasts on CRCL Stock

Compass Point downgraded Circle Internet Group from neutral to sell. CRCL stock price target is also cut from $79 to $77, Investing.com reported on April 9.

Analysts cited falling gross margins in the first half of the year, shifting USDC supply toward lower-margin areas, and intense competition in the stablecoin space as reasons for a downgrade.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has reiterated a ‘hold’ rating for CRCL stock. Goldman analyst James Yaro increased the 12-month price target from $97 to $99. Morgan Stanley earlier predicted Circle stock to tumble to $80.

As CoinGape earlier reported, Circle’s stock outperformance since Q4 earnings results was primarily driven by expanding USDC’s market cap and growing margin expansion expectations. The CLARITY Act developments fueled bullish forecasts from Wall Street analysts.

Selling Spree by Circle Directors

Recent US SEC filings revealed that some executives and directors sold significant Circle shares. Insider trading activity has increased significantly in the past few weeks, triggering a rise in selling pressure on CRCL stock price.

Director Michele Burns sold 1,666 shares at $92.38 on Monday. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan and reduced her direct holdings slightly to roughly 341,872 shares.

Director Rajeev Date also sold 2,546 shares at $92.99 on Monday and 1,273 shares at $95 on Tuesday, according to an SEC filing dated April 8. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 152,328 shares.

CRCL Stock Price Slips

CRCL stock price dropped 1.37% during the premarket trading on Thursday. The stock closed 0.34% higher at $94.44 on Wednesday, with an intraday low and high of $93.00 and $101.82, respectively. Trading volume was below the average volume of 16 million.

Circle stock has slumped 4% in a week and almost 40% in the past 6 months. Stock is reacting to the CLARITY Act news.  Also, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for passing the CLARITY Act, as the stalled crypto bill caused fluctuating price actions.