Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.25.

ENTA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Enanta Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Enanta Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jay R. Luly bought 45,000 shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.69 per share, for a total transaction of $256,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 846,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,370.22. This represents a 5.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 13.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enanta Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 15,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 8,501 shares during the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP bought a new position in Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,908,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $192,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ENTA opened at $6.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $130.13 million, a PE ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $6.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.57. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $4.71 and a 52-week high of $17.80.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 75.53% and a negative net margin of 157.57%. Analysts predict that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV.