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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZLAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $36.10 target price (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Zai Lab in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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.

Zai Lab Stock Up 21.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.66 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.74 and its 200-day moving average is $29.07.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $109.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.15 million. As a group, analysts expect that Zai Lab Limited will post -2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Zai Lab

In related news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $1,723,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 494,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,032,212.99. This trade represents a 9.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 1,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $62,048.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,716.25. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 138,744 shares of company stock worth $4,685,294. 13.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Zai Lab by 749.1% in the fourth 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 shares of Zai Lab in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,714,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Zai Lab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,172,000. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Zai Lab during the fourth 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 valued at $48,788,000 after buying an additional 989,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

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.