Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $31.49 and last traded at $30.95, with a volume of 264,950 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZYME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $40.00) on shares of Zymeworks in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Zymeworks from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Zymeworks in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Zymeworks from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price target on Zymeworks in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Twelve 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 data from MarketBeat, Zymeworks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.67.

Zymeworks Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.67 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.31.

Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $3.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 million. Zymeworks had a negative net margin of 405.31% and a negative return on equity of 72.30%. Zymeworks’s revenue for the quarter was down 90.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Zymeworks Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Zymeworks news, EVP Adam Schayowitz sold 13,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $357,557.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $599,849.25. This trade represents a 37.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ZYME. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Zymeworks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 813.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Zymeworks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Zymeworks during the third quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Zymeworks during the third quarter valued at approximately $102,000. 92.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zymeworks Company Profile

Zymeworks Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing multifunctional biotherapeutics for cancer and other serious diseases. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, and has historically operated internationally through research, development and collaboration activities.

Zymeworks’ technology platforms include Azymetric, which is designed to support the development of engineered antibody therapeutics, and ZymeLink, which enables the creation of antibody-drug conjugates and other targeted therapies.