The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT)

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 22.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ADPT. National Bank Financial set a $34.00 price target on shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Adaptive Biotechnologies from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Adaptive Biotechnologies from $25.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.06.

Adaptive Biotechnologies Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADPT opened at $28.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 4.68 and a current ratio of 4.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.15 and a 200-day moving average of $19.22. Adaptive Biotechnologies has a 52 week low of $12.00 and a 52 week high of $29.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.54 and a beta of 2.09.

Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.12). Adaptive Biotechnologies had a negative net margin of 20.73% and a negative return on equity of 36.81%. The company had revenue of $71.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Adaptive Biotechnologies will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Adaptive Biotechnologies

In related news, Director Peter M. Neupert sold 124,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total value of $3,135,953.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 130,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,285,218.75. This trade represents a 48.84% 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, insider Harlan S. Robins sold 492,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.89, for a total value of $10,778,636.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 812,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,775,949.62. This represents a 37.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,851,223 shares of company stock valued at $43,590,105 in the last three months. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adaptive Biotechnologies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Adaptive Biotechnologies in the second quarter valued at about $855,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Adaptive Biotechnologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $754,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.17% of the company’s stock.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ADPT) is a biotechnology company focused on applying immune-system data to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The company develops technologies that decode T-cell and B-cell receptors, helping researchers and clinicians analyze the adaptive immune response at the scale of individual immune cells.

Its key products include clonoSEQ, a clinical diagnostic test that measures minimal residual disease in certain blood cancers, including multiple myeloma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.