Insiders Make Huge Purchases of These 4 Biotech Stocks

After a rough patch, it seems the biotech industry may be staging a comeback. Several biotech firms have gone public this year, and those focused on obesity treatments, gene therapies, and more have high expectations. Insiders, especially beneficial owners, have been showing their love as well, and the largest insider purchases in the past week or so have largely been in biotech stocks.

In addition, a tech company, specifically a work management software provider, recently saw its outgoing chief executive make a huge purchase of shares. Let’s take a quick look at all the most notable transactions of the past week or so.

Is Insider Buying Important?

What does insider buying tell us?

A well-known adage reminds us that corporate insiders and 10% owners really only buy shares of a company because they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. Thus, insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors. This is all the more so during times of uncertainty in the markets, and even when markets are near all-time highs.

Note that the next earnings-reporting season has not yet begun, so few insiders are prohibited from buying or selling shares. Below are some of the more notable insider purchases that were reported recenlty, starting with the largest and most prominent.

Mineralys Therapeutics

• Buyer(s): 10% owners R.A. Capital Management and Samsara BioCapital GP
• Total shares: about 1.9 million
• Price per share: $13.50
• Total cost: about $25.6 million

These buyers took advantage of a public offering of shares intended to raise funds in part for clinical development of lorundrostat, a high blood pressure treatment.

Shares of Mineralys Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MLYS) have surged 82% or so in the past month and were last seen trading well above the secondary offering purchase price. The stock hit a multiyear high of $18.38 per share after the buyer’s purchase.

Analysts have a mean price target of $38.29 a share for this Pennsylvania-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. That would be a gain of 135.2% in the next 52 weeks. All eight analysts who cover the stock recommend buying shares, two of them with Strong Buy ratings. H.C. Wainwright recently maintained its Buy recommendation.

Note that R.A. Capital acquired almost 1.3 million of the shares, and also that it recently picked up shares of Janx Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: JANX).

Immunocore

• Buyer(s): 10% owner Baker Bros. Advisors
• Total shares: more than 807,300
• Price per share: $29.01 to $30.00
• Total cost: around $24.0 million

Last month, Immunocore Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: IMCR) posted quarterly results that included strong year-over-year revenue growth, strong performance for Kimmtrak sales, and R&D efforts expanded into new therapeutic areas, including autoimmune diseases.

The shares have traded mostly between $29 and $32 apiece for the past six months. The share price was last seen still within the purchase price range above. However, analysts on average anticipate the stock going to $64.03 a share in the next 12 months. That would be a gain of 120.6%. Their consensus recommendation is to buy shares, including five Strong Buy ratings.

Note that this purchase raised the buyer’s stake to more than 2.1 million shares. Also, back in December, Baker Bros. Advisors scooped up a sizable number of Bicycle Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BCYC) shares.

Asana

• Buyer(s): CEO Dustin Moskovitz
• Total shares: over 1.35 million
• Price per share: $12.70 to $14.60
• Total cost: over $18.7 million

With its recent earnings report, San Francisco-based Asana Inc. (NYSE: ASAN | ASAN Price Prediction) recently announced Moskovitz’s retirement. The share price plunged afterward but has started to recover, with an 8.2% gain in the past week. Shares are down 25.2% year to date, but they were last seen higher than the purchase price range above.

Analysts see little upside in the coming year, given their $15.63 consensus target price. Out of 19 analysts who cover the stock, only five of them recommend buying shares. J.P. Morgan recently reiterated its Underweight rating, and Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal-Weight rating.

Note that the outgoing chief executive bucked the trend, as two officers and a director have been selling shares lately.

Zymeworks

• Buyer(s): 10% owner EcoR1 Capital
• Total shares: almost 355,700
• Price per share: $12.12 to $13.09
• Total cost: more than $4.5 million

After scooping up more than $13.1 million worth of shares earlier in the month, this buyer returned to further increase its stake in Zymeworks BC Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYME). It now owns almost 17.2 million shares. The biopharmaceutical company has a public float of over 67 million shares.

When this biopharmaceutical company posted its most recent quarterly results, it fell short on the bottom line. Revenue rose year over year, and the stock reversed its recent slide afterward. It is still down about 12% year to date, but the $21.35 consensus price target signals 68.5% upside in the coming year.

Analysts on average recommend buying shares, and they have since at least the beginning of this year. LifeSci Capital has initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. Citigroup recently maintained its Buy rating, while H.C. Wainwright reiterated a Neutral rating.

ATAI Life Sciences

• Buyer(s): 10% owner Apeiron Investment Group
• Total shares: 1.8 million
• Price per share: $1.40
• Total cost: more than $2.5 million

German clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company ATAI Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ: ATAI) posted disappointing quarterly results earlier this month but has also raised $59 million in funds and advanced its Phase 2 trials in anxiety and depression. The stock has risen 6.1% since the report, and the share price is 18.1% higher than at the beginning of the year and 12.1% higher than the purchase price above.

All six analysts who cover the stock recommend buying shares, two of them with Strong Buy ratings. Their mean price target of $8.00 a share indicates that they anticipate a whopping 410% upside in the next 52 weeks. H.C. Wainwright maintained its Buy rating after the earnings report.

Note that some officers have sold small batches of shares recently, and that Apeiron acquired more than 10.8 million shares back in February.

And Other Insider Buying

Some smaller insider buys at Home Depot, Las Vegas Sands, Oracle, and more.

In the past week or so, some insider buying was also reported at:

• Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) by the CFO for over $507,700
• Autodesk Inc. (NYSE: ADSK) by a director for about $534,200
• Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) by a director for nearly $1.0 million
• Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) by a director for about $1.0 million
• Oracle Corp. (NYSE: SJM) by a director for about $947,900
• Reddit Inc. (NYSE: RDDT) by a director for about $100,900
• Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) by a beneficial owner for almost $1.4 million