Bank of America Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB)

Bank of America reissued their neutral rating on shares of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $36.10 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $29.00.

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Zai Lab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Zai Lab Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of ZLAB opened at $35.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.96 and a beta of 1.02. Zai Lab has a 12-month low of $13.48 and a 12-month high of $36.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.18.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $109.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.15 million. Zai Lab had a negative net margin of 76.14% and a negative return on equity of 36.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that Zai Lab will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Zai Lab

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total value 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 represents a 9.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 14,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total value of $479,661.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,537.44. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,127 shares of company stock valued at $4,024,442. 13.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ZLAB. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Zai Lab in the fourth quarter worth $46,172,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Zai Lab by 26.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 9,107 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Zai Lab by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 232,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 69,740 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Zai Lab by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 183,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 41,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Zai Lab in the fourth quarter worth $511,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.