OmniAb, Inc. (NASDAQ:OABI) Short Interest Up 21.3% in March

OmniAb, Inc. (NASDAQ:OABI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,070,000 shares, a growth of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 7,480,000 shares. Currently, 9.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 649,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 14.0 days.

OmniAb Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ OABI opened at $1.83 on Tuesday. OmniAb has a 1-year low of $1.70 and a 1-year high of $4.96. The stock has a market cap of $223.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 0.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.78 and its 200 day moving average is $3.42.

OmniAb (NASDAQ:OABI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.01. OmniAb had a negative return on equity of 20.97% and a negative net margin of 308.78%. The business had revenue of $10.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that OmniAb will post -0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at OmniAb

In related news, insider Charles S. Berkman sold 8,215 shares of OmniAb stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.68, for a total transaction of $30,231.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 364,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,340,002.08. The trade was a 2.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kurt A. Gustafson sold 7,255 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $26,625.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 206,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,794.37. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,985 shares of company stock valued at $189,773. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OmniAb

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in OmniAb by 321.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 143,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 109,236 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in OmniAb by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,031,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,594,000 after purchasing an additional 34,654 shares during the period. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in OmniAb in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in OmniAb by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 819,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 32,186 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in OmniAb during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 72.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark dropped their price target on OmniAb from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of OmniAb from $7.00 to $4.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of OmniAb in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

OmniAb Company Profile

OmniAb, Inc, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery and provision of therapeutic antibody discovery technologies in the United States. The company's technology platform creates and screens diverse antibody repertoires and identify optimal antibodies for partners' drug development efforts.