Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $104.26 Million Holdings in Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Free Report) by 63.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,884,810 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,121,856 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.62% of Zai Lab worth $104,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZLAB. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Zai Lab in the fourth quarter worth about $1,032,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab in the first quarter valued at approximately $603,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Zai Lab by 1,439.8% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,755 shares of the company's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 18,472 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Zai Lab by 749.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,475,505 shares of the company's stock worth $143,403,000 after buying an additional 4,830,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Zai Lab by 1,671.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 5,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Yajing Chen sold 2,675 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.13, for a total value of $96,647.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,004 shares in the company, valued at $758,874.52. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Lis sold 13,814 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.67, for a total transaction of $492,745.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,106 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,231.02. This represents a 28.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 160,155 shares of company stock worth $4,959,535. Company insiders own 4.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZLAB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Zai Lab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Zai Lab in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $75.00 price objective on Zai Lab and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zai Lab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.28.

Zai Lab Price Performance

ZLAB traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.43. The stock had a trading volume of 581,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,726. Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR has a 1-year low of $16.01 and a 1-year high of $44.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.63 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.38.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.05. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 33.35% and a negative net margin of 60.26%. The firm had revenue of $106.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $118.40 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.