Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Trading Up 6.9% – Still a Buy?

Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB) shares rose 6.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.50 and last traded at $27.0580. Approximately 173,794 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 860,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZLAB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Zai Lab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Zai Lab from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Zai Lab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Zai Lab from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

Zai Lab Stock Up 3.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.28 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.22.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $106.31 million for the quarter. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.43% and a negative net margin of 41.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR will post -2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 24,543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.46, for a total transaction of $428,520.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,192,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,826,986.40. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director William Lis sold 8,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $212,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,275. The trade was a 16.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 50,258 shares of company stock worth $960,741 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zai Lab

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ZLAB. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in Zai Lab by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 136,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 58,158 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Zai Lab by 142.0% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 68,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 39,901 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 214.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 13,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 9,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

About Zai Lab

Zai Lab Ltd (NASDAQ: ZLAB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Zai Lab operates R&D centers in Asia and the United States and maintains commercial offices across Greater China, North America, Europe and Australia. The company’s end-to-end platform encompasses discovery biology, translational development, clinical research and global supply chain management.

The company’s marketed portfolio is anchored by Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for several B-cell malignancies.