Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• CEO Leon O. Moulder Jr. purchased 60,000 shares across April 28–29 (35,000 at $17.62 and 25,000 at $18.02) for roughly $1.07M, boosting his stake about 2% to ~1.79M shares.
• The stock gapped up from a $17.55 close to a $19.05 open and was last trading near $18.44 on ~73,269 shares, marking an intraday rise of about 5.6%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed (six Buys, one Hold, two Sells) resulting in a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and a $44.14 price target, while the company reports negative EPS and a ~$1.06B market cap.

Shares of Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $17.55, but opened at $19.05. Zenas BioPharma shares last traded at $18.4360, with a volume of 73,269 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr. purchased 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.62 per share, for a total transaction of $616,700.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,786,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,470,007.18. This trade represents a 2.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.02 per share, with a total value of $450,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,751,039 shares in the company, valued at $31,553,722.78. This represents a 1.45% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Zenas BioPharma from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Zenas BioPharma from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zenas BioPharma currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.14.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Up 5.6%

The company has a current ratio of 5.61, a quick ratio of 5.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -2.37 and a beta of -0.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.14.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 13th. The company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zenas BioPharma, Inc. will post -4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zenas BioPharma

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SR One Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Zenas BioPharma by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. SR One Capital Management LP now owns 5,037,854 shares of the company's stock worth $182,924,000 after acquiring an additional 126,315 shares during the last quarter. NEA Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 3,523,219 shares of the company's stock worth $127,928,000 after buying an additional 789,500 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,715,578 shares of the company's stock worth $98,603,000 after buying an additional 853,740 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,453,065 shares of the company's stock worth $52,761,000 after buying an additional 290,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Zenas BioPharma in the 4th quarter worth about $38,402,000.

About Zenas BioPharma

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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