Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $16.57, but opened at $20.05. Zai Lab shares last traded at $20.79, with a volume of 737,974 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by $0.38. The business had revenue of $87.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.07 million. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 37.07% and a negative net margin of 125.46%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.51) earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZLAB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Zai Lab from $123.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other news, CEO Ying Du sold 5,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $93,460.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,107,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,893,747.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Zai Lab news, CEO Ying Du sold 5,787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.15, for a total value of $93,460.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,107,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,893,747.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joshua L. Smiley sold 1,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $31,151.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,684 shares in the company, valued at $449,478.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,568 shares of company stock valued at $208,508. 5.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Zai Lab by 68.4% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zai Lab by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Zai Lab by 1,923.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Zai Lab by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Zai Lab during the first quarter worth about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Zai Lab Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.90 and a beta of 1.11.

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.