UBS Group AG Boosts Stake in Zymeworks Inc. $ZYME

UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME) by 437.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,854 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 227,013 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.37% of Zymeworks worth $7,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ZYME. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in Zymeworks during the fourth quarter worth about $26,931,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Zymeworks by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,328,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,315,000 after purchasing an additional 174,293 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in Zymeworks by 9.6% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 37,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Zymeworks by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Zymeworks during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. 92.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zymeworks Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ ZYME opened at $24.43 on Tuesday. Zymeworks Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.02 and a 1-year high of $29.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.61 and a 200-day moving average of $24.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -17.83 and a beta of 1.20.

Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter. Zymeworks had a negative net margin of 126.92% and a negative return on equity of 37.97%. The company had revenue of $2.41 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Zymeworks Inc. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zymeworks announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $125.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Zymeworks from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Zymeworks from $32.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Zymeworks from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Zymeworks from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Zymeworks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

Zymeworks Profile

Zymeworks Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. The company specializes in engineered antibody and protein therapeutics designed to address a range of unmet medical needs in oncology and other serious diseases. Through its proprietary platforms, Zymeworks aims to create novel bispecific and multispecific molecules that can simultaneously engage multiple targets and recruit immune effector functions to enhance potency and specificity.

At the core of Zymeworks’ innovation is its Azymetric™ bispecific antibody platform, which enables the design of asymmetrical bispecific antibodies with controlled assembly and high stability.