AnaptysBio Insiders Selling US$3.6m In Stock Relieved As Market Cap Slides To US$1.1b

Insiders at AnaptysBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAB) sold US$3.6m worth of stock at an average price of US$23.23 a share over the past year, making the most of their investment. The company's market worth decreased by US$128m over the past week after the stock price dropped 12%, although insiders were able to minimize their losses

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for AnaptysBio

AnaptysBio Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The President, Daniel Faga, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$3.4m worth of shares at a price of US$22.78 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$32.34, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 27% of Daniel Faga's holding.

AnaptysBio insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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AnaptysBio Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at AnaptysBio. In total, insiders dumped US$173k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that AnaptysBio insiders own 1.8% of the company, worth about US$19m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The AnaptysBio Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold AnaptysBio shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for AnaptysBio (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

Of course AnaptysBio may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.