AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $72.36 and last traded at $70.04, with a volume of 86029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.78.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on AnaptysBio from $79.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on AnaptysBio from $56.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AnaptysBio from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.18.

Insider Transactions at AnaptysBio

In other news, insider Eric J. Loumeau sold 10,000 shares of AnaptysBio stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $540,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,090. The trade was a 43.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Faga sold 17,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.61, for a total transaction of $1,089,203.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 495,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,556,403.65. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,324 shares of company stock worth $2,787,594. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AnaptysBio

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,544,037 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,855,000 after purchasing an additional 67,048 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,053,474 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,072,000 after buying an additional 180,042 shares during the period. 683 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AnaptysBio by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 648,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,420,000 after buying an additional 101,093 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in AnaptysBio in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,559,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in AnaptysBio by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 398,914 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,339,000 after acquiring an additional 69,094 shares during the period.

AnaptysBio Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.77 and a beta of 0.79.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $108.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.09 million. AnaptysBio had a negative return on equity of 1,101.24% and a negative net margin of 5.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AnaptysBio, Inc. will post -1.3 EPS for the current year.

AnaptysBio declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, March 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 5,352,316.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.