AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• AnaptysBio was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from “strong-buy” to “hold,” even as other analysts remain largely bullish with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $79.18.
• The company reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss of ($1.84) EPS, though revenue of $25.56 million came in above estimates. Analysts currently expect the biotech firm to post -1.85 EPS for the full fiscal year.
• Shares were up 1.5% to $63.15, near their 50-day average of $62.80, while insiders and institutions made notable moves, including CEO and director stock sales and multiple hedge funds increasing their stakes.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

ANAB has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on AnaptysBio from $56.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised AnaptysBio from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $90.00 price objective on AnaptysBio in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.18.

AnaptysBio Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ ANAB opened at $63.15 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $62.80 and its 200 day moving average is $51.69. AnaptysBio has a 12 month low of $11.40 and a 12 month high of $72.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.79.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.84) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($1.20). AnaptysBio had a negative return on equity of 1,101.24% and a negative net margin of 11.53%.The business had revenue of $25.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.86 million. On average, analysts forecast that AnaptysBio will post -1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AnaptysBio declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, March 27th that permits the company to buyback $100,000.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biotechnology company to reacquire up to 5,352,316.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel Faga sold 17,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.61, for a total transaction of $1,089,203.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 495,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,556,403.65. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John P. Schmid sold 20,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 31,622 shares in the company, valued at $1,774,310.42. The trade was a 39.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AnaptysBio

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANAB. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 111.4% during the first quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 940,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $52,132,000 after purchasing an additional 495,308 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 1,631.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 233,325 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 2,358.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 229,137 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $11,109,000 after purchasing an additional 219,816 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 145.6% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 370,458 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $11,343,000 after purchasing an additional 219,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soleus Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in AnaptysBio by 214.6% during the second quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. now owns 321,040 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,127,000 after purchasing an additional 218,988 shares in the last quarter.

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.

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