Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Short Interest Down 25.1% in May

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,980,000 shares, a decrease of 25.1% from the April 30th total of 6,650,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ZLAB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Zai Lab from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank began coverage on Zai Lab in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.10 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Zai Lab in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zai Lab news, insider Frazor Titus Edmondson III sold 1,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.11, for a total value of $62,048.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,716.25. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ying Du sold 5,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.89, for a total value of $208,449.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 476,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,085,290.94. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 120,589 shares of company stock valued at $3,591,699 in the last three months. 4.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab during the 4th quarter valued at $46,172,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zai Lab during the 4th quarter valued at $1,032,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Zai Lab by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 232,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 69,740 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Zai Lab by 1,439.8% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 18,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Zai Lab by 749.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,475,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,830,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.65% of the company’s stock.

Zai Lab Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ZLAB opened at $30.29 on Monday. Zai Lab has a one year low of $16.01 and a one year high of $39.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.08 and a 200-day moving average of $29.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of -10.94 and a beta of 1.04.

Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.05. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 36.97% and a negative net margin of 76.14%. The company had revenue of $106.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.40 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Zai Lab will post -2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zai Lab Company Profile

Zai Lab Limited develops and commercializes therapies to treat oncology, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, and neuroscience. Its commercial products include Zejula, an orally administered poly polymerase 1/2 inhibitor; Optune, a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to kill tumor cells; NUZYRA for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, and community acquired bacterial pneumonia; Qinlock to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and VYVGART, a human IgG1 antibody fragment for myesthenia gravis.