89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Trading Down 8.8% – Should You Sell?

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB)’s stock price fell 8.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.31 and last traded at $7.37. 203,195 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,226,712 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.56.

89bio Trading Down 10.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 11.66, a current ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.42.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Mcwherter acquired 5,000 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.55 per share, for a total transaction of $32,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,250. The trade was a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of 89bio in the 4th quarter valued at $1,897,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 149,479 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 89bio by 8.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,358,000 after buying an additional 160,356 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in 89bio by 2,153.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 73,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 70,129 shares during the last quarter.

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.