First Light Asset Management LLC Sells 2,549,432 Shares of AnaptysBio, Inc. $ANAB

First Light Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) by 72.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 990,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,549,432 shares during the period. AnaptysBio accounts for 2.9% of First Light Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First Light Asset Management LLC owned about 3.58% of AnaptysBio worth $30,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AnaptysBio by 4,852.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,719,000 after acquiring an additional 822,975 shares during the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 155.6% during the second quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 500,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,100,000 after purchasing an additional 304,373 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 1,631.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,625 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 233,325 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 145.6% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 370,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,343,000 after purchasing an additional 219,648 shares during the period. Finally, Soleus Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 214.6% in the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 321,040 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,127,000 after purchasing an additional 218,988 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ANAB. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $56.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AnaptysBio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AnaptysBio presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.22.

Insider Transactions at AnaptysBio

In related news, CEO Daniel Faga sold 15,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $662,267.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 458,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,819,093.14. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Mulroy sold 15,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total value of $705,266.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at $421,634.85. The trade was a 62.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 156,280 shares of company stock worth $7,254,939 in the last three months. Insiders own 33.50% of the company’s stock.

AnaptysBio Price Performance

Shares of AnaptysBio stock opened at $64.81 on Monday. AnaptysBio, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.32 and a 1 year high of $66.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -124.63 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.80.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.69. AnaptysBio had a negative net margin of 5.64% and a negative return on equity of 1,101.24%. The firm had revenue of $108.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.09 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AnaptysBio, Inc. will post -6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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

AnaptysBio Company Profile

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.