AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of AnaptysBio in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group began coverage on AnaptysBio in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reduced their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.70.

AnaptysBio Price Performance

ANAB opened at $47.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.86 and a beta of 0.32. AnaptysBio has a one year low of $12.21 and a one year high of $52.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.24.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.06) by $1.58. The business had revenue of $76.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.83 million. AnaptysBio had a negative return on equity of 1,101.24% and a negative net margin of 49.94%. On average, analysts expect that AnaptysBio will post -6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

AnaptysBio announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 21st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the biotechnology company to purchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at AnaptysBio

In other news, Director Magda Marquet sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.23, for a total value of $530,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $478,923.90. This represents a 52.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul F. Lizzul sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total value of $163,191.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,881,754.48. This represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 146,280 shares of company stock worth $6,714,939 over the last three months. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AnaptysBio

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in AnaptysBio by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 950.0% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 175.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 131,540.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,582 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 6,577 shares during the last quarter.

AnaptysBio Company Profile

AnaptysBio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic antibody product candidates in immunology and inflammation. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Diego, California, AnaptysBio leverages a proprietary somatic hypermutation platform to rapidly generate and refine human antibodies with optimized efficacy and safety profiles. The company’s technology is designed to accelerate target validation and candidate selection across a range of immune-mediated conditions.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple clinical-stage programs addressing dermatological and inflammatory disorders.