Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Zai Lab's stock price gapped down from $38.72 to $34.48 prior to trading on Thursday, with a last trade at $34.21.
• Wall Street analysts hold a mixed view, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.28, despite a recent downgrade from a "buy" to a "hold" rating.
• Insider selling activity included Director William Lis selling 13,814 shares, resulting in a 28.24% decrease in his ownership of Zai Lab stock.

Shares of Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $38.72, but opened at $34.48. Zai Lab shares last traded at $34.21, with a volume of 338,761 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZLAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Zai Lab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Leerink Partners set a $75.00 price target on shares of Zai Lab and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.28.

Zai Lab Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of -17.14 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $36.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.30.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37). The company had revenue of $109.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.66 million. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.32% and a negative net margin of 49.68%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Zai Lab

In other Zai Lab news, CFO Yajing Chen sold 2,675 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.13, for a total value of $96,647.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $758,874.52. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ying Du sold 7,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $249,146.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 536,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,917,171.26. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,155 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,535 over the last quarter. 4.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zai Lab

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Zai Lab during the first quarter worth $603,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 1,439.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 749.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,475,505 shares of the company's stock worth $143,403,000 after purchasing an additional 4,830,646 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Zai Lab by 8,090.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,954 shares of the company's stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 40,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Zai Lab during the fourth quarter worth $976,000. 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.