AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ANAB. UBS Group raised their target price on AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Leerink Partners set a $90.00 target price on AnaptysBio in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on AnaptysBio from $56.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AnaptysBio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on AnaptysBio from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AnaptysBio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.18.

AnaptysBio Price Performance

Shares of AnaptysBio stock opened at $51.24 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.36 and a 200-day moving average of $53.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of -47.44 and a beta of 0.72. AnaptysBio has a 1-year low of $11.40 and a 1-year high of $72.36.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.84) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by ($1.20). The business had revenue of $25.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.86 million. AnaptysBio had a negative net margin of 11.53% and a negative return on equity of 1,101.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that AnaptysBio will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AnaptysBio declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, March 27th that permits the company to repurchase $100,000.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biotechnology company to repurchase up to 5,352,316.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at AnaptysBio

In related news, Director John P. Schmid sold 20,645 shares of AnaptysBio stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value of $1,158,390.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,774,310.42. This trade represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel Faga sold 17,679 shares of AnaptysBio stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.61, for a total value of $1,089,203.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 495,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,556,403.65. This trade represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AnaptysBio

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 24.3% in 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 35,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in AnaptysBio by 5,864.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during 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.