89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Trading Up 8.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) traded up 8.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.67 and last traded at $9.45. 1,627,349 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 3,062,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETNB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.43.

89bio Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.30 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.20. The company has a quick ratio of 11.66, a current ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,764,196.17. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rohan Palekar purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $83,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 466,236 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,070.60. This represents a 2.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 30,000 shares of company stock worth $235,700. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETNB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in 89bio during the second quarter valued at about $66,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of 89bio during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of 89bio by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in 89bio in the third quarter valued at approximately $160,000.

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.