Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $31.52, but opened at $30.74. Zai Lab shares last traded at $30.73, with a volume of 182,986 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ZLAB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Zai Lab from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $36.10 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Zai Lab Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.91 and its 200-day moving average is $29.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.44 and a beta of 1.09.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last posted its 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). Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 36.97% and a negative net margin of 76.14%. The company 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 Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total transaction of $1,622,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 494,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,029,155.48. The trade was a 9.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Rafael Amado sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.41, for a total value of $115,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,184,333.94. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 138,744 shares of company stock worth $4,685,294. 13.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zai Lab

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in Zai Lab in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Zai Lab by 337.6% during 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 raised its position in shares of Zai Lab by 1,671.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.