Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

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

Zai Lab Stock Performance

Zai Lab stock traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.83. 222,367 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,713. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.94 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.18.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $109.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.15 million. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 36.97% and a negative net margin of 76.14%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Zai Lab will post -2.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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 Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total transaction of $1,622,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 494,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,029,155.48. This represents a 9.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rafael Amado sold 7,583 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total value of $199,281.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 122,127 shares of company stock worth $4,024,442. Company insiders own 13.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zai Lab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Zai Lab by 337.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Zai Lab by 1,671.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Zai Lab during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.