Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Trading Up 5.3% – What’s Next?

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) shares were up 5.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $28.62 and last traded at $28.49. Approximately 1,477,214 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 84% from the average daily volume of 802,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank started coverage on Zai Lab in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.10 price target (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Zai Lab from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Zai Lab Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.99.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by ($0.19). Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 36.97% and a negative net margin of 76.14%. The company had revenue of $109.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.15 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Zai Lab Limited will post -2.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zai Lab news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total transaction of $1,622,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 494,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,029,155.48. This trade represents a 9.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 1,874 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $62,048.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,716.25. This trade represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,744 shares of company stock valued at $4,685,294 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Zai Lab by 749.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,475,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,403,000 after buying an additional 4,830,646 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in Zai Lab during the fourth quarter worth about $65,714,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Zai Lab in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,172,000. RA Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,917,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Zai Lab by 113.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,862,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,788,000 after purchasing an additional 989,664 shares during the period. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zai Lab Company Profile

Zai Lab Limited develops and commercializes therapies to treat oncology, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, and neuroscience. Its commercial products include Zejula, an orally administered poly polymerase 1/2 inhibitor; Optune, a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to kill tumor cells; NUZYRA for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, and community acquired bacterial pneumonia; Qinlock to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and VYVGART, a human IgG1 antibody fragment for myesthenia gravis.