Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 685,219 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the previous session’s volume of 801,185 shares.The stock last traded at $18.51 and had previously closed at $18.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ZLAB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Zai Lab from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Zai Lab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Zai Lab from $55.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Zai Lab from $39.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Zai Lab from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.83.

Zai Lab Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.99.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 24.32% and a negative net margin of 39.29%.The firm had revenue of $99.61 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR will post -2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joshua L. Smiley sold 9,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.39, for a total transaction of $196,029.46. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 120,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,459,421.41. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ying Du sold 50,000 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total transaction of $1,004,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,122,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,553,556.34. This trade represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,561 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,705. Company insiders own 4.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Zai Lab stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB) by 214.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,771 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,390 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Zai Lab were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Zai Lab

Zai Lab Ltd (NASDAQ: ZLAB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Zai Lab operates R&D centers in Asia and the United States and maintains commercial offices across Greater China, North America, Europe and Australia. The company’s end-to-end platform encompasses discovery biology, translational development, clinical research and global supply chain management.

The company’s marketed portfolio is anchored by Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for several B-cell malignancies.