AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $57.74 and last traded at $56.4540, with a volume of 76507 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ANAB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $55.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AnaptysBio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.89.

AnaptysBio Trading Up 3.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.90 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.04.

AnaptysBio announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AnaptysBio

In other AnaptysBio news, Director Magda Marquet sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.23, for a total transaction of $530,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,923.90. The trade was a 52.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric J. Loumeau sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.86, for a total value of $560,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,088 shares in the company, valued at $407,687.68. This represents a 57.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,280 shares of company stock valued at $7,254,939. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AnaptysBio

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,011 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 18,165 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in AnaptysBio during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $337,000. Corton Capital Inc. lifted its stake in AnaptysBio by 12.2% in the second quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 12,004 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AnaptysBio in the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AnaptysBio during the second quarter worth $334,000.

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.