AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

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

ANAB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of AnaptysBio from $80.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group began coverage on AnaptysBio in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AnaptysBio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.70.

AnaptysBio Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANAB opened at $47.54 on Friday. AnaptysBio has a 52 week low of $12.21 and a 52 week high of $52.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -16.86 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.03 and its 200-day moving average is $33.12.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.83 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that AnaptysBio will post -6.08 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel Faga sold 14,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total value of $638,503.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 479,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,431,470.24. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric J. Loumeau sold 2,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total transaction of $98,809.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $573,852.85. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 146,280 shares of company stock worth $6,714,939. 33.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AnaptysBio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 175.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMB Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AnaptysBio during the 4th quarter worth 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.