TLDR
- Circle director Rajeev Date sold 1,273 CRCL shares on April 7 at $95 each, totalling $120,935, under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan
- His holding dropped by 0.83% to 152,328 shares, still worth over $14.4 million
- Circle beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.43 vs $0.25 expected) and reported $770.23 million in revenue, up 76.9% year-over-year
- Compass Point downgraded CRCL to Sell with a $77 price target, citing expected gross margin contraction in H1 2026
- Analyst consensus sits at Hold with an average price target of $126.29; major institutions including Vanguard increased their stakes in Q3
Circle Internet Group director Rajeev Date sold 1,273 CRCL shares on April 7, 2026. The sale was made at an average price of $95.00, bringing the total transaction value to $120,935.
The sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, meaning it was scheduled in advance and not a reaction to market events. Date still holds 152,328 shares valued at roughly $14.47 million.
His position decreased by 0.83% following the transaction, a relatively small reduction given the size of his overall stake.
The insider sale comes as analyst sentiment on CRCL has been mixed. Compass Point moved to a Sell rating on April 8, cutting its price target from $79 to $77. That implies around 18% downside from where the stock was trading at the time.
Compass Point’s concern centers on margins. The firm expects gross margins to contract in the first half of 2026, driven by USDC supply shifting into lower-margin areas. Circle’s gross profit margin over the last twelve months stood at just 8.67%.
Margin Pressure Takes Center Stage
Compass Point’s 2027 EBITDA estimate sits 20% below the Street consensus. The firm said the stock’s recent outperformance was tied to expectations of margin expansion — expectations it no longer shares.
The stock currently trades at around 40 times optimistic 2027 EBITDA forecasts. Those forecasts assume USDC reaccelerates in Q2 2026, something Compass Point is skeptical about.
CRCL has fallen 37% over the past six months despite strong revenue growth of nearly 64% over that period. The market has been wrestling with the gap between top-line growth and compressed margins.
Not everyone is bearish, though. Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $138 in March and kept an Outperform rating. Morgan Stanley maintains an Equal Weight rating with an $80 price target, flagging regulatory concerns around stablecoin legislation.
Wells Fargo trimmed its target from $128 to $111 in February but kept an Overweight rating. Goldman Sachs raised its target to $88 with a Neutral rating. The average analyst price target across the board sits at $126.29, with the consensus at Hold.
Institutions Still Buying
Despite the analyst caution, institutional investors were adding to positions as recently as Q3. Vanguard raised its stake by 61.6%, now holding 5.58 million shares worth roughly $739.6 million.
CloudAlpha Capital Management increased its position by 181.1% to 283,964 shares. Rheos Capital Works added 20.8% to its stake, bringing its total to 302,000 shares.
Circle’s most recent quarterly results, reported February 25, showed EPS of $0.43 against a consensus estimate of $0.25. Revenue came in at $770.23 million, up 76.9% year-over-year.
On the product side, Circle launched the Circle Payments Network Managed Payments service, a stablecoin settlement tool allowing banks to use USDC for transactions without directly managing digital assets. Triple-A also joined the network to support stablecoin-to-local currency settlements for cross-border payouts.
CRCL’s 52-week range is $49.90 to $298.99. Its 50-day moving average is $87.06 and the 200-day sits at $95.30.
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