Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) Trading Up 10.8% – Still a Buy?

Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO)’s stock price was up 10.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.19 and last traded at $19.6850. Approximately 236,622 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 803,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ZBIO shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Zenas BioPharma from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zenas BioPharma from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Zenas BioPharma currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.29.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Up 11.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 11.94, a current ratio of 11.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.34 and a beta of -0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.71.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($1.46) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.01. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.80) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Zenas BioPharma, Inc. will post -4.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Zenas BioPharma

In related news, Director Fairmount Funds Management Llc purchased 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,359,025 shares in the company, valued at $47,180,500. This trade represents a 6.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Hongbo Lu purchased 3,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.63 per share, with a total value of $70,197.84. Following the purchase, the director owned 426,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,950,091.68. This represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 273,768 shares of company stock valued at $5,150,198 over the last quarter. 22.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in Zenas BioPharma by 34.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Zenas BioPharma in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Zenas BioPharma in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Zenas BioPharma by 120.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Zenas BioPharma by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter.

Zenas BioPharma Company Profile

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.