AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,100,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 6,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 447,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.9 days. Currently, 27.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

AnaptysBio Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANAB opened at $15.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $474.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.56 and a beta of -0.11. AnaptysBio has a 1-year low of $14.20 and a 1-year high of $41.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.47.

AnaptysBio (NASDAQ:ANAB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.72) by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $30.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.92 million. AnaptysBio had a negative net margin of 289.75% and a negative return on equity of 287.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AnaptysBio will post -6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AnaptysBio

In other AnaptysBio news, insider Paul F. Lizzul sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.67, for a total value of $58,005.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $595,440.66. This trade represents a 8.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 33.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AnaptysBio

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANAB. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 2,209,189 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,008,000 after acquiring an additional 43,598 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 74.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 75,755 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 32,313 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 202.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 54,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 36,300 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 677.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,948,000 after acquiring an additional 206,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of AnaptysBio by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 475,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,927,000 after acquiring an additional 168,813 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of AnaptysBio in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HC Wainwright cut shares of AnaptysBio from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of AnaptysBio from $90.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AnaptysBio from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AnaptysBio from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.09.

AnaptysBio Company Profile

AnaptysBio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses in delivering immunology therapeutics. Its products include Rosnilimab, an IgG1 antibody that targets PD-1+ T cells, resulting in their agonism or depletion, broadly impacting pathogenic drivers of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases; and ANB032, a non-depleting antibody that binds to the BTLA checkpoint receptor and inhibits activated T cell proliferation; ANB033, a novel anti-CD122 antagonist antibody that targets the shared common beta subunit of the receptors for IL-15 and IL-2; ANB101, a BDCA2 modulator antibody that specifically targets plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs); and Imsidolimab, an antibody that inhibits the interleukin-36 receptor, which is in the Phase 3 development for the treatment of generalized pustular psoriasis.