89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Trading Up 7.1% – Here’s Why

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) rose 7.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $11.54 and last traded at $11.51. 579,274 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 3,259,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ETNB shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on 89bio in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Saturday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 89bio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.43.

89bio Trading Up 6.9 %

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 moving average of $7.89 and a 200-day moving average of $8.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 1.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rohan Palekar bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $83,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 466,236 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,070.60. This represents a 2.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,764,196.17. This trade 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 5,744,285 shares of company stock worth $50,235,694 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in 89bio by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,158,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,108 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in 89bio during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,631,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 29.6% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,006,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,245,000 after buying an additional 686,673 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 1,232.2% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 435,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 402,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in 89bio in the third quarter worth $2,224,000.

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.