89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.56.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ETNB. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Citigroup began coverage on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. purchased 5,714,285 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. This trade represents a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Mcwherter purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.55 per share, with a total value of $32,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $98,250. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in 89bio by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 43,384 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio during the fourth quarter worth about $1,897,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of 89bio by 228.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 214,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 149,479 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in 89bio in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 89bio by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,358,000 after purchasing an additional 160,356 shares in the last quarter.

89bio Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ETNB opened at $6.05 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.22. 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 stock has a market cap of $883.20 million, a P/E ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 1.25. 89bio has a 12-month low of $4.16 and a 12-month high of $11.84.

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

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.