CFO of Adaptive Biotechnologies Sells $72,033 in Stock

On March 5th, 2023, Kyle Piskel, the Chief Financial Officer of Adaptive Biotechnologies Co. (NASDAQ:ADPT), sold 10,320 shares of the company’s stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.98 each, totaling $72,033.60. After this sale, Piskel's remaining ownership in the company is now 269,010 shares, which is valued at about $1,877,689.80. This transaction marks a 3.69% decrease in his position. The details of the transaction were made public in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which can be reviewed through a specific link.

Stock Performance Overview

During midday trading on Thursday, Adaptive Biotechnologies’ stock experienced a decline of $0.26, bringing the price down to $7.77. The trading volume for the day was around 1,570,893 shares, slightly lower than the average daily volume of 1,648,062 shares. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.50 and a 200-day moving average of $5.99. Currently, Adaptive Biotechnologies holds a market capitalization of approximately $1.15 billion, with a negative price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of -7.13 and a beta of 1.53. Over the past year, the stock has registered a low of $2.28 and a high of $8.95.

In its most recent earnings announcement, released on February 11th, Adaptive Biotechnologies reported an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.23), which exceeded analyst expectations of ($0.27) by $0.04. The company noted a return on equity of -64.65% and a negative net margin of 89.12%. In comparison, the previous year's data showed an EPS of ($0.30). It is expected that the company will report an EPS of -0.92 for the current fiscal year, based on analyst forecasts.

Hedge Funds and Institutional Activity

Recently, various hedge funds have shown interest in Adaptive Biotechnologies by buying and selling shares. For instance, Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in the company by 2.9% during the third quarter, now holding 14,400,000 shares valued at $73,728,000. ARK Investment Management LLC also raised its holdings by 1.7% in the same quarter, acquiring a total of 11,601,134 shares worth $59,398,000 after an additional purchase. Furthermore, Vanguard Group Inc. added 0.7% more shares in the fourth quarter, leading to a total of 10,714,888 shares valued at $64,236,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its ownership by 12.1% in the third quarter, owning 7,733,884 shares worth $39,597,000 after an increase of 834,253 shares. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. also raised its holdings by 17.0%, now owning 3,370,919 shares valued at $20,209,000. Overall, institutional investors control about 99.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts' Perspectives and Price Targets

A variety of analysts have recently released reports regarding Adaptive Biotechnologies shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target from $5.50 to $7.50, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating with a new price target of $11.00, up from $7.00. Scotiabank adjusted its price target from $10.00 to $12.00, rating the stock as a "sector outperform." Additionally, BTIG Research increased its target from $8.00 to $9.00, assigning a "buy" rating. Among analysts, one has given a hold rating, while four have rated the stock as a buy, leading to an overall consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $9.10.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation is a developing company focused on immune medicine, which encompasses the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The company features an immunosequencing platform that integrates proprietary chemistry, computational biology, and machine learning to produce clinical immunomics data, interpreting the adaptive immune system.

CFO, Stock, Sale