Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Coverage Initiated at Scotiabank

Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sector outperform rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.10 price objective (up previously from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Zai Lab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Zai Lab Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ZLAB opened at $36.42 on Friday. Zai Lab has a 12 month low of $13.48 and a 12 month high of $37.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.45. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.15 and a beta of 1.02.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last announced 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 net margin of 76.14% and a negative return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $109.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.15 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zai Lab will post -2.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $1,723,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rafael Amado sold 7,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $199,281.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $889,157.52. This trade represents a 18.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,127 shares of company stock valued at $4,024,442 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zai Lab

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Zai Lab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new position in Zai Lab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 337.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 1,671.9% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 5,534 shares during the period. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Zai Lab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 41.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.