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

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AnaptysBio from $55.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on AnaptysBio from $80.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. HC Wainwright cut their target price on AnaptysBio from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.70.

AnaptysBio Stock Performance

Shares of AnaptysBio stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $47.54. The stock had a trading volume of 253,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 462,881. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.03 and a 200 day moving average of $33.12. 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 twelve month low of $12.21 and a twelve month high of $52.47.

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

AnaptysBio announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, November 21st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AnaptysBio news, CFO Dennis Mulroy sold 15,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total transaction of $705,266.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $421,634.85. This represents a 62.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel Faga sold 15,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total transaction of $662,267.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 458,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,819,093.14. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 146,280 shares of company stock valued at $6,714,939 in the last ninety days. 33.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AnaptysBio

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 54.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in AnaptysBio by 950.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in AnaptysBio by 175.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% during the 2nd 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, FMB Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AnaptysBio during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $271,000.

About AnaptysBio

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.