89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Stock Price Up 7.1% – Here’s Why

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James raised shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.43.

89bio Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles Mcwherter acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $80,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $80,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $7.89 per share, with a total value of $39,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 471,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,718,052.04. This represents a 1.07 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 5,744,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,235,694 in the last 90 days. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ETNB. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in 89bio by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in 89bio by 1.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 140,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in 89bio by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in 89bio by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in 89bio by 12.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 3,557 shares during the period.

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.