EcoR1 Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Zenas BioPharma, Inc. $ZBIO

Key Points

• EcoR1 Capital disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Zenas BioPharma, buying 789,500 shares valued at about $28.7 million. The position represents roughly 1.3% of EcoR1’s portfolio and 1.47% of Zenas BioPharma’s shares outstanding.
• Insider buying was notable: Director Fairmount Funds Management bought 150,000 shares for $3.0 million, and Director Hongbo Lu added 3,768 shares. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 273,768 shares worth about $5.15 million, with insiders owning 22% of the stock.
• Zenas BioPharma reported a quarterly loss of ($1.46) EPS, slightly better than analyst estimates, while Wall Street currently assigns the stock a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $44.29. Shares were last trading at $18.58, well below the consensus target and below the 200-day average of $24.12.

EcoR1 Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 789,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,667,000. Zenas BioPharma accounts for approximately 1.3% of EcoR1 Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. EcoR1 Capital LLC owned 1.47% of Zenas BioPharma as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 120.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Zenas BioPharma

In other news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc acquired 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,359,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,180,500. This trade represents a 6.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hongbo Lu acquired 3,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.63 per share, with a total value of $70,197.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 426,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,950,091.68. This represents a 0.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders bought 273,768 shares of company stock worth $5,150,198. 22.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Zenas BioPharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ZBIO opened at $18.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.19 and a beta of -0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 11.94, a current ratio of 11.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $19.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.12. Zenas BioPharma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.91 and a twelve month high of $44.60.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ZBIO shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on Zenas BioPharma from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Zenas BioPharma from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zenas BioPharma from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Zenas BioPharma from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.29.

Zenas BioPharma Profile

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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