UBS Group Upgrades AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) to Strong-Buy

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on ANAB. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $80.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on shares of AnaptysBio from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AnaptysBio from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of AnaptysBio in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AnaptysBio currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.40.

AnaptysBio Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ANAB opened at $43.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.53 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.30. AnaptysBio has a 52-week low of $12.21 and a 52-week high of $52.47.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.06) by $1.58. AnaptysBio had a negative net margin of 49.94% and a negative return on equity of 1,101.24%. The firm had revenue of $76.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.83 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that AnaptysBio will post -6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AnaptysBio declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, November 21st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to purchase up to 9.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel Faga sold 15,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $662,267.34. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J. Anthony Ware sold 3,900 shares of AnaptysBio stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.58, for a total transaction of $193,362.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,455.40. The trade was a 28.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 112,624 shares of company stock worth $5,171,459 over the last ninety days. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AnaptysBio

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AnaptysBio by 950.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in AnaptysBio by 131,540.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,582 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 6,577 shares during the last quarter.

More AnaptysBio News

Here are the key news stories impacting AnaptysBio this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Anaptys filed a partial motion to dismiss Tesaro (a GSK subsidiary)’s anticipatory breach claim in Delaware Chancery Court, which, if sustained, could reduce near?term royalty exposure tied to Jemperli sales and lower legal risk. Reuters: AnaptysBio seeks partial dismissal GlobeNewswire: Motion to dismiss filing
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals and capital actions remain supportive: Anaptys reported an earnings and revenue beat in November and its board authorized up to $100M in share repurchases, which can support the share price over time by signaling management confidence and reducing outstanding float. MarketBeat ANAB coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming event: CEO Daniel Faga will present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (Jan. 13), which could catalyze new corporate updates or guidance but is unlikely to move the stock absent specific news. GlobeNewswire: JPM presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning: Several funds have added or initiated positions recently, which can provide longer?term demand but also increases the potential for large block trades to move the stock. MarketBeat ownership data
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Multiple insiders (including the CEO and CFO) disclosed sizable sales on Jan. 5–7 that materially reduced their holdings; public Form 4 filings and media reports of these sales are likely contributing to today’s downward pressure as some investors view clustered insider sales negatively. InsiderTrades: insider selling alerts

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.