Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) to “Strong-Buy”

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) was upgraded by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.10 price target (up from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Monday.

Zai Lab Price Performance

Zai Lab stock traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.55. The stock had a trading volume of 202,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,070. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.85 and a beta of 1.02. Zai Lab has a twelve month low of $13.48 and a twelve month high of $36.60.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $109.07 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Zai Lab will post -2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zai Lab

In other news, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 14,544 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total transaction of $479,661.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $472,537.44. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total value of $1,622,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 494,117 shares in the company, valued at $16,029,155.48. This represents a 9.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,127 shares of company stock valued at $4,024,442. 13.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zai Lab

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at $46,172,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,107 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 42.9% during the 4th 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. increased its holdings in shares of Zai Lab by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 183,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 41,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $511,000. 41.65% of the stock is owned by 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.