321,983 Shares in Zenas BioPharma, Inc. $ZBIO Bought by NEXTBio Capital Management LP

Key Points

• NEXTBio Capital Management disclosed a new position in Zenas BioPharma, buying 321,983 shares valued at about $11.7 million. The stake represents roughly 0.60% of Zenas and makes it NEXTBio’s fourth-largest holding.
• Other large investors also increased or initiated positions, including Federated Hermes and Vanguard, signaling continued institutional interest in the stock. Several hedge funds and asset managers bought shares in recent quarters.
• Zenas BioPharma shares were up 11.5% on the day reported, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $44.29. The company also posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and saw notable insider buying, including a large purchase by CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr.

NEXTBio Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 321,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,691,000. Zenas BioPharma makes up about 6.9% of NEXTBio Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. NEXTBio Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.60% of Zenas BioPharma at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ZBIO. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Zenas BioPharma by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,715,578 shares of the company's stock worth $98,603,000 after acquiring an additional 853,740 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,453,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,761,000 after buying an additional 290,307 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma in the fourth quarter valued at $5,950,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma in the third quarter valued at $3,237,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma in the fourth quarter valued at $4,746,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ZBIO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zenas BioPharma from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Zenas BioPharma from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Zenas BioPharma currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.29.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Up 11.5%

ZBIO opened at $19.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 11.94 and a quick ratio of 11.94. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.44 and its 200 day moving average is $24.67. Zenas BioPharma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.91 and a fifty-two week high of $44.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.34 and a beta of -0.71.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($1.46) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.80) EPS. Research analysts expect that Zenas BioPharma, Inc. will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Zenas BioPharma

In related news, Director Hongbo Lu acquired 3,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.63 per share, with a total value of $70,197.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 426,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,950,091.68. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr. acquired 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $1,012,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 96,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,636,144.64. This trade represents a 162.48% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 273,768 shares of company stock valued at $5,150,198 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.00% of the company's stock.

About Zenas BioPharma

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.

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