Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) Stock Price Up 9.7% – Still a Buy?

Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME)’s share price shot up 9.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $28.00 and last traded at $26.61. 761,976 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 780,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ZYME. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Zymeworks in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Citizens Jmp set a $32.00 target price on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Zymeworks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Zymeworks from $32.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zymeworks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.89.

Zymeworks Stock Down 1.3%

The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.34.

Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $2.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.78 million. Zymeworks had a negative net margin of 76.56% and a negative return on equity of 26.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 91.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Mark Hollywood sold 6,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total value of $138,740.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 132,913 shares in the company, valued at $3,013,137.71. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey T. L. Smith sold 10,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $264,503.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,635.20. This trade represents a 36.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,933 shares of company stock worth $4,673,716. Corporate insiders own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zymeworks

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EcoR1 Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 22,970,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,278,000 after purchasing an additional 5,710,840 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in Zymeworks by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 5,750,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,398,000 after buying an additional 1,039,449 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Zymeworks by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 3,261,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,885,000 after buying an additional 1,171,187 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Zymeworks by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,328,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,315,000 after acquiring an additional 174,293 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in shares of Zymeworks by 53.5% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,765,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,146,000 after acquiring an additional 615,000 shares during the period. 92.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Zymeworks Company Profile

Zymeworks Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation multifunctional biotherapeutics. The company specializes in engineered antibody and protein therapeutics designed to address a range of unmet medical needs in oncology and other serious diseases. Through its proprietary platforms, Zymeworks aims to create novel bispecific and multispecific molecules that can simultaneously engage multiple targets and recruit immune effector functions to enhance potency and specificity.

At the core of Zymeworks’ innovation is its Azymetric™ bispecific antibody platform, which enables the design of asymmetrical bispecific antibodies with controlled assembly and high stability.