AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.00 and last traded at $51.9790, with a volume of 75971 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANAB has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AnaptysBio from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on AnaptysBio from $20.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

AnaptysBio Trading Up 3.4%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.28.

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

AnaptysBio announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, November 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AnaptysBio

In related news, Director J. Anthony Ware sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.58, for a total value of $193,362.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $477,455.40. The trade was a 28.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Mulroy sold 15,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total transaction of $705,266.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $421,634.85. This represents a 62.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,766 shares of company stock worth $3,011,004. Corporate insiders own 33.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in AnaptysBio by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised 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 worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AnaptysBio in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000.

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.