Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Down 7.1% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) fell 7.1% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $24.74 and last traded at $25.14. 710,767 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 966,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.07.

Specifically, CFO Yajing Chen sold 924 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $30,593.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $895,526.17. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ying Du sold 2,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $97,508.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 479,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,887,866.61. This trade represents a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 1,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total transaction of $62,048.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,716.25. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ZLAB. Scotiabank began coverage on Zai Lab in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Zai Lab from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America reissued 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.

Zai Lab Stock Down 10.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 1.09.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $109.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.15 million. Zai Lab had a negative net margin of 76.14% and a negative return on equity of 36.97%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Zai Lab Limited will post -2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Zai Lab

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zai Lab in the 4th quarter valued at $46,172,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Zai Lab in the 4th quarter worth about $1,032,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Zai Lab by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 232,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after purchasing an additional 69,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 26.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 9,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zai Lab by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 183,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 41,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

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.