Insider Selling: AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) CEO Sells 15,309 Shares of Stock

AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) CEO Daniel Faga sold 15,309 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 458,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,819,093.14. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

AnaptysBio Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ANAB traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.91. The company had a trading volume of 466,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,205. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -15.57 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.12. AnaptysBio, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.21 and a 1-year high of $52.47.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by $1.58. AnaptysBio had a negative return on equity of 1,101.24% and a negative net margin of 49.94%.The business had revenue of $76.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.83 million. On average, research analysts expect that AnaptysBio, Inc. will post -6.08 EPS for the current year.

AnaptysBio announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, November 21st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 9.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ANAB shares. 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 note on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on AnaptysBio from $70.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 54.6% during the third 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 period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AnaptysBio by 950.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in AnaptysBio by 175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in AnaptysBio by 11,630.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised 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 worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 6,577 shares during the period.

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.