Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $40.63, but opened at $38.38. Zai Lab shares last traded at $37.78, with a volume of 125,578 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ZLAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Zai Lab from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Zai Lab in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $36.10 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Zai Lab Trading Down 9.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.29 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.05 and a 200 day moving average of $30.62.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $106.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.40 million. Zai Lab had a negative net margin of 76.14% and a negative return on equity of 36.97%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zai Lab Limited will post -2.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other Zai Lab news, CFO Yajing Chen sold 5,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $189,499.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $914,154.19. This trade represents a 17.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 4,369 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total transaction of $156,803.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,818.13. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,207 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,009 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Zai Lab during the 4th quarter valued at $46,172,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zai Lab during the fourth quarter valued at $1,032,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 232,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after purchasing an additional 69,740 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Zai Lab by 1,439.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 18,472 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Zai Lab by 749.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,475,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,403,000 after buying an additional 4,830,646 shares in the last quarter. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Zai Lab

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.