AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, HC Wainwright Analyst Says

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) had its price objective increased by analysts at HC Wainwright from $51.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.93% from the stock’s current price.

ANAB has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $80.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.56.

AnaptysBio Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ANAB opened at $52.83 on Wednesday. AnaptysBio has a 12-month low of $13.99 and a 12-month high of $57.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.50. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.73 and a beta of 0.32.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The biotechnology company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.69. AnaptysBio had a negative net margin of 49.94% and a negative return on equity of 1,101.24%. The company had revenue of $108.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.09 million. On average, equities analysts expect that AnaptysBio will post -6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

AnaptysBio declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, November 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biotechnology company to buy up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric J. Loumeau sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $540,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,835 shares in the company, valued at $693,090. The trade was a 43.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Faga sold 14,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.71, for a total value of $638,503.51. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 479,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,431,470.24. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 156,280 shares of company stock worth $7,254,939 in the last ninety days. 33.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AnaptysBio

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 5,864.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 54.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in AnaptysBio by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,345 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in AnaptysBio by 950.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in AnaptysBio by 940.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter.

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.