Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 2,228 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 346% compared to the average daily volume of 499 call options.

89bio Stock Up 52.1 %

ETNB stock traded up $3.71 on Monday, hitting $10.84. 14,112,921 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,390. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.18. 89bio has a 12-month low of $5.99 and a 12-month high of $16.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a current ratio of 11.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles Mcwherter purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.55 per share, with a total value of $32,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,250. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,764,196.17. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 30,000 shares of company stock worth $235,700. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ETNB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 89bio by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 43,384 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of 89bio by 228.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 214,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 149,479 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in 89bio in the 4th quarter worth $1,897,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 89bio by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,358,000 after acquiring an additional 160,356 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in 89bio by 2,153.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 73,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 70,129 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ETNB. Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 89bio presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

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.