89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Shares Up 7.1% – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETNB shares. Raymond James raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on 89bio in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.43.

89bio Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 11.66 and a quick ratio of 11.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.26.

Insider Transactions at 89bio

In other news, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.35 per share, with a total value of $83,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 466,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,070.60. This trade represents a 2.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 5,744,285 shares of company stock worth $50,235,694. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in 89bio in the 2nd quarter valued at $66,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in 89bio in the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in 89bio by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in 89bio by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in 89bio by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 8,810 shares during the last quarter.

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.