Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) Trading Down 8% – Here’s Why

Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO) was down 8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $26.95 and last traded at $27.0850. Approximately 95,055 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 855,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ZBIO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Zenas BioPharma from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zenas BioPharma from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.29.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.29 and a beta of -0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 11.94 and a current ratio of 11.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.71.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($1.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.80) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Zenas BioPharma, Inc. will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr. acquired 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,144.64. This represents a 162.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 120,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,080,000. 22.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zenas BioPharma

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new position in Zenas BioPharma during the fourth quarter worth about $38,402,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,715,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,603,000 after acquiring an additional 853,740 shares in the last quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC bought a new stake in Zenas BioPharma during the fourth quarter worth about $28,667,000. NEA Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 3,523,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,928,000 after buying an additional 789,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Zenas BioPharma by 723.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 388,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,592,000 after purchasing an additional 341,187 shares during the period.

About Zenas BioPharma

Zenas BioPharma, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies in oncology and infectious diseases. The company’s proprietary platform integrates structure-guided design, computational modeling and high-throughput screening to address challenging protein-protein interactions. Zenas BioPharma is advancing multiple preclinical and clinical-stage candidates aimed at providing new treatment options where current modalities may be limited by efficacy or safety concerns.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Zenas BioPharma was built to streamline the drug discovery process from target identification through to IND-enabling studies.