89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Shares Down 8.8% – Time to Sell?

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB)’s stock price was down 8.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.31 and last traded at $7.37. Approximately 203,195 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,226,712 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETNB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on 89bio in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on 89bio in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.56.

89bio Stock Down 10.2 %

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 capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.42.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.42). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that 89bio, Inc. will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at 89bio

In other 89bio news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

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