Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ZLAB. UBS Group started coverage on Zai Lab in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zai Lab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.30.

Zai Lab Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:ZLAB opened at $18.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 0.83. Zai Lab has a twelve month low of $16.82 and a twelve month high of $44.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.77.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.05). Zai Lab had a negative net margin of 46.83% and a negative return on equity of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $116.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.24 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Zai Lab will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rafael Amado sold 10,787 shares of Zai Lab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.43, for a total transaction of $188,017.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 52,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $913,175.13. The trade was a 17.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Zai Lab stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,396 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Zai Lab were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Zai Lab Company Profile

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.