KANZHUN LIMITED Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BZ) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 20.2% in April to 13,060,779 shares, leaving a days-to-cover of 4.2 and roughly 3.3% of the stock sold short.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed after recent downgrades (Wall Street Zen to Hold, Zacks to Strong Sell; Barclays cut its target from $28 to $19) though the MarketBeat consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $23 price target.
• CEO Peng Jonathan Zhao sold 64,000 shares (about a 10% reduction in his stake) while several large institutions added shares, leaving institutional ownership at 60.67%.

KANZHUN LIMITED Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 13,060,779 shares, a decrease of 20.2% from the March 31st total of 16,359,146 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,081,292 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

KANZHUN Stock Performance

Shares of BZ traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $13.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,678,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,044,806. KANZHUN has a 12 month low of $12.85 and a 12 month high of $25.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50-day moving average is $14.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut KANZHUN from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Barclays cut their target price on KANZHUN from $28.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut KANZHUN from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peng Jonathan Zhao sold 64,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $446,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 576,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,020,480. This represents a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in KANZHUN by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 24,433,878 shares of the company's stock worth $497,962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352,779 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its position in KANZHUN by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 19,291,036 shares of the company's stock worth $413,311,000 after purchasing an additional 3,819,347 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in KANZHUN by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,340,529 shares of the company's stock worth $271,880,000 after purchasing an additional 194,820 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in KANZHUN by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,845,468 shares of the company's stock worth $200,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreView Capital Management Ltd raised its position in KANZHUN by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. CoreView Capital Management Ltd now owns 9,447,889 shares of the company's stock worth $220,703,000 after purchasing an additional 298,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.67% of the company's stock.

About KANZHUN

Kanzhun Ltd. NASDAQ: BZ operates a leading AI-driven online recruitment platform under the brand name Boss Zhipin. The platform leverages algorithmic job matching and instant in-app messaging to connect job seekers and employers, streamlining the hiring process and reducing time-to-fill. By combining machine-learning recommendations with direct recruiter interactions, Kanzhun aims to create a more efficient, personalized recruitment experience compared with traditional job boards.

Beyond its core peer-to-peer marketplace, Kanzhun provides a suite of premium services for corporate clients, including employer branding packages, targeted marketing campaigns and SaaS-based human capital management tools.

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