Zymeworks (NYSE:ZYME) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Zymeworks Inc. (NYSE:ZYME) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $14.04, but opened at $14.63. Zymeworks shares last traded at $14.05, with a volume of 32,031 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director Ecor1 Capital, Llc bought 39,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.01 per share, with a total value of $546,796.29. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,578,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,258,035.32. The trade was a 0.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ecor1 Capital, Llc purchased 74,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.39 per share, with a total value of $992,533.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,485,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,346,868.17. This represents a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In other news, Director Ecor1 Capital, Llc acquired 204,098 shares of Zymeworks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $2,679,806.74. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,411,078 shares in the company, valued at $202,347,454.14. This represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Zymeworks from $21.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Leerink Partnrs raised Zymeworks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Zymeworks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Zymeworks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Zymeworks from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.17.

Zymeworks Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $964.32 million, a P/E ratio of -9.33 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.57.

Zymeworks (NYSE:ZYME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.01. Zymeworks had a negative return on equity of 23.00% and a negative net margin of 182.75%. The company had revenue of $16.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Zymeworks Inc. will post -1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Zymeworks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZYME. FMR LLC grew its position in Zymeworks by 84.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Zymeworks during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Zymeworks by 8,049.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 9,096 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Zymeworks in the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Zymeworks during the second quarter worth about $92,000. 92.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zymeworks Company Profile

Zymeworks Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s lead product candidates include zanidatamab, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) that is in Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 clinical trials, including certain ongoing pivotal clinical trials; and zanidatamab zovodotin, a HER2 -targeted antibody-drug conjugate that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced or metastatic HER2-expressing tumors.