Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has initiated coverage on Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $52.00, indicating a potential upside of 47.69%.
• Consensus ratings from analysts show six "buy" ratings and one "hold" rating, with an average price target of $56.35 for the stock.
• Insider trading activity included sales by Joshua L. Smiley and CFO Yajing Chen, with recent transactions reducing their ownership stakes in the company.

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price suggests a potential upside of 47.69% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Zai Lab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $75.00 price target on shares of Zai Lab and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.35.

Zai Lab Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:ZLAB traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $35.21. The stock had a trading volume of 18,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,062. Zai Lab has a one year low of $18.04 and a one year high of $44.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.35 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.08 and a 200 day moving average of $33.85.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.37). Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.32% and a negative net margin of 49.68%.The company had revenue of $109.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.66 million. Zai Lab has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zai Lab will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other news, insider Joshua L. Smiley sold 6,641 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $240,669.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 76,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,776,128.96. The trade was a 7.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Yajing Chen sold 1,438 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.42, for a total transaction of $50,933.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $592,222.40. This trade represents a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,328 shares of company stock valued at $7,878,224. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,323 shares of the company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Zai Lab in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 57,114 shares of the company's stock worth $1,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 22,276 shares of the company's stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Zai Lab by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,544 shares of the company's stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.65% of the company's stock.

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.

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