Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) Shares Up 13.8% – Here’s What Happened

Zenas BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZBIO)’s stock price shot up 13.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $27.06 and last traded at $26.48. 571,797 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 1,146,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ZBIO. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Zenas BioPharma from $27.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Zenas BioPharma from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $37.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Zenas BioPharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Zenas BioPharma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.14.

Zenas BioPharma Stock Up 1.1%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of -3.73 and a beta of -1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.66 and a quick ratio of 5.66.

Zenas BioPharma (NASDAQ:ZBIO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by ($0.35).

Insider Buying and Selling at Zenas BioPharma

In other Zenas BioPharma news, CEO Leon O. Moulder, Jr. purchased 57,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.96 per share, with a total value of $1,023,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 423,155 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,863.80. The trade was a 15.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hongbo Lu purchased 25,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.50 per share, for a total transaction of $584,662.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 347,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,829,280. The trade was a 8.07% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 202,845 shares of company stock worth $3,747,185. 16.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zenas BioPharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SR One Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. SR One Capital Management LP now owns 5,037,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,924,000 after buying an additional 126,315 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Zenas BioPharma by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,715,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,603,000 after acquiring an additional 853,740 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Zenas BioPharma by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,453,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,761,000 after purchasing an additional 290,307 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 588,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,371,000 after purchasing an additional 118,358 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Zenas BioPharma by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 438,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,914,000 after purchasing an additional 60,809 shares during 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.