Share Repurchase Plan Announced by AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB)

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, March 27th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $100,000.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AnaptysBio Trading Down 11.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:ANAB traded down $7.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,353,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,439. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -110.38 and a beta of 0.32. AnaptysBio has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $68.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.49.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.69. AnaptysBio had a negative return on equity of 1,101.24% and a negative net margin of 5.64%.The company had revenue of $108.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.09 million. Research analysts anticipate that AnaptysBio will post -6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright raised their price target on AnaptysBio from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on AnaptysBio from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on AnaptysBio from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AnaptysBio in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of AnaptysBio from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.44.

Insider Transactions at AnaptysBio

In related news, insider Paul F. Lizzul sold 4,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $182,513.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,303 shares in the company, valued at $1,440,687.78. This trade represents a 11.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Mulroy sold 3,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $145,483.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,915.80. This represents a 19.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,514 shares of company stock worth $4,243,935. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.