Short Interest in 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Rises By 12.2%

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,790,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the December 15th total of 6,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 943,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ETNB shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

89bio Stock Up 3.6 %

ETNB opened at $6.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a current ratio of 11.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.22. 89bio has a 1 year low of $5.99 and a 1 year high of $16.63.

Insider Activity at 89bio

In related news, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.89 per share, with a total value of $39,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 471,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,718,052.04. The trade was a 1.07 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,196.17. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $202,950 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of 89bio during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 89bio by 76.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 8,810 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in 89bio in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in 89bio by 172.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of 89bio by 21.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 5,421 shares during the period.

About 89bio

89bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of liver and cardio-metabolic diseases. Its lead product candidate is pegozafermin, a glycoPEGylated analog of fibroblast growth factor 21 for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia.