89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.35, but opened at $8.66. 89bio shares last traded at $8.40, with a volume of 142,930 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.56.

89bio Stock Up 3.5 %

The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $8.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.45.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.42). As a group, equities research analysts expect that 89bio, Inc. will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $71,149.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,100,291.25. This trade represents a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 13,961 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in 89bio during the 3rd quarter worth $160,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 89bio by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,336,000 after acquiring an additional 53,932 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in 89bio by 103.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 31,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of 89bio by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,006,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,245,000 after purchasing an additional 686,673 shares during the period.

89bio Company Profile

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.