StockNews.com Downgrades Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) to Sell

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ENTA. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Enanta Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of ENTA opened at $5.86 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5.80 and its 200 day moving average is $9.54. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $4.71 and a fifty-two week high of $17.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.99 million, a PE ratio of -1.07 and a beta of 0.54.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 171.57% and a negative return on equity of 73.02%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Enanta Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Jay R. Luly sold 5,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.06, for a total transaction of $41,444.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 801,638 shares in the company, valued at $6,461,202.28. This trade represents a 0.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Krensavage Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Krensavage Asset Management LLC now owns 1,498,074 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,520,000 after purchasing an additional 246,736 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $1,243,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $903,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 243,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,524,000 after acquiring an additional 85,082 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 135,954 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 67,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV.