Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $39.77 and last traded at $38.29, with a volume of 417212 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Zai Lab Stock Up 3.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.46 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.31.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS 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 business had revenue of $109.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.15 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Zai Lab Limited will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.47, for a total transaction of $1,723,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 494,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,032,212.99. This represents a 9.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Rafael Amado sold 7,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $199,281.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $889,157.52. This represents a 18.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,127 shares of company stock worth $4,139,672. 13.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

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