Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) was downgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Monday. They currently have a $19.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.18% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a report on Monday, December 22nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Zenas BioPharma from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Zenas BioPharma in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zenas BioPharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.71.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Down 56.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:ZBIO traded down $19.56 on Monday, hitting $14.94. 7,085,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,219,038. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.98. The company has a quick ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 5.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $801.98 million, a PE ratio of -2.11 and a beta of -1.45. Zenas BioPharma has a 52 week low of $5.83 and a 52 week high of $44.60.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by ($0.35).

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zenas BioPharma news, Director Hongbo Lu acquired 263,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $5,000,040.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 321,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,117,677. This trade represents a 447.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jason Raleigh Nunn acquired 63,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,200,002.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,173,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,294,505. The trade was a 5.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders bought 923,035 shares of company stock valued at $17,628,163. 16.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZBIO. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 60.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,861,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,041,000 after acquiring an additional 703,838 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,162,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,813,000 after purchasing an additional 170,546 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 373,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 16,461 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,237,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Zenas BioPharma during the third quarter worth $1,595,000.

Zenas BioPharma Company Profile

Zenas BioPharma, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies in oncology and infectious diseases. The company’s proprietary platform integrates structure-guided design, computational modeling and high-throughput screening to address challenging protein-protein interactions. Zenas BioPharma is advancing multiple preclinical and clinical-stage candidates aimed at providing new treatment options where current modalities may be limited by efficacy or safety concerns.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Zenas BioPharma was built to streamline the drug discovery process from target identification through to IND-enabling studies.