Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 679,400 Shares of Zymeworks Inc. $ZYME

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYME) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 647,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 679,400 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.87% of Zymeworks worth $17,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EcoR1 Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Zymeworks by 33.1% during the second quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 22,970,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,278,000 after acquiring an additional 5,710,840 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Zymeworks by 144.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 155,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 91,997 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zymeworks in the second quarter worth about $2,531,000. Tejara Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Zymeworks by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 200,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 10,741 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Zymeworks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $179,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Zymeworks

In other news, COO Mark Hollywood sold 6,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total value of $138,740.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 132,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,013,137.71. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey T. L. Smith sold 9,310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.67, for a total transaction of $211,057.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,470.36. The trade was a 25.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 140,405 shares of company stock valued at $3,389,509 in the last three months. Company insiders own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Zymeworks Price Performance

Shares of ZYME opened at $24.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of -22.86 and a beta of 1.23. Zymeworks Inc. has a one year low of $9.03 and a one year high of $28.49.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Zymeworks from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Truist Financial started coverage on Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zymeworks in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Zymeworks in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Zymeworks from $32.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zymeworks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.89.

Zymeworks 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.