89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research 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 company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.56.

ETNB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Saturday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock.

89bio Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ ETNB opened at $8.52 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. 89bio has a 1-year low of $5.99 and a 1-year high of $11.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.94 and a 200-day moving average of $8.42. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the purchase, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,196.17. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in 89bio by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,514,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355,838 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 10,202,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,785,000 after buying an additional 2,211,052 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,478,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,478,000 after buying an additional 99,513 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 6,478,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,660,000 after buying an additional 3,711,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 89bio by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,692,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,514,000 after purchasing an additional 686,054 shares in 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.