Leerink Partners Initiates Coverage on Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL)

Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 199.63% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Rodman & Renshaw assumed coverage on shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.50.

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of ZNTL stock opened at $2.67 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $191.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.67 and a 200-day moving average of $3.87. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $1.21 and a 1-year high of $6.95.

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.10). Sell-side analysts forecast that Zentalis Pharmaceuticals will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Group Walters acquired 4,335,000 shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.50 per share, with a total value of $15,172,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,844,973 shares in the company, valued at $62,457,405.50. This represents a 32.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spark Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $126,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $783,678. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals by 188.7% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 317,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 207,600 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,406,000.

Key Headlines Impacting Zentalis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Zentalis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Leerink upgraded Zentalis to Outperform and set an $8 price target, replacing its Market Perform rating. Based on the referenced price of $2.67, the target implies approximately 200% upside, providing a significant boost to investor sentiment. Leerink upgrades Zentalis Pharmaceuticals to Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: The upgrade helped drive a sharp near-term rebound in ZNTL shares, with coverage noting that the stock gained more than 10% following Leerink’s recommendation. Zentalis stock gains after Leerink upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also looking ahead to October cancer data, which could provide an important readout for Zentalis’ clinical pipeline and serve as a near-term catalyst if results support the company’s drug-development prospects. Zentalis heads toward October cancer data
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo maintained a Hold rating, while the broader brokerage consensus remains Hold. This limits the strength of the bullish signal from Leerink and highlights continued uncertainty around Zentalis’ clinical and financial outlook. Wells Fargo gives Zentalis a Hold rating
• Negative Sentiment: Zentalis remains a speculative biotech, with shares still well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company also recently reported a quarterly loss that exceeded analysts’ expected loss, reinforcing concerns about execution and the need for positive clinical results.

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ZNTL) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small-molecule medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research programs are designed to target biological pathways involved in tumor growth, survival and resistance to existing therapies.

Zentalis’ lead investigational product is azenosertib, also known as ZN-c3, an oral WEE1 inhibitor being evaluated in clinical trials for several advanced cancers.