89bio’s (ETNB) Sell (D-) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their sell (d-) rating on shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) in a report published on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ETNB. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 89bio presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.29.

89bio Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ETNB opened at $7.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.48. 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 12-month low of $5.99 and a 12-month high of $13.71. The firm has a market cap of $833.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.70 and a beta of 1.17.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, research analysts forecast that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at 89bio

In related news, Director Charles Mcwherter bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.55 per share, for a total transaction of $32,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $98,250. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total value of $71,149.87. Following the sale, the insider now owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. The trade was 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 Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in 89bio by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,514,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,838 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 89bio by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 10,202,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,052 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its holdings in 89bio by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,478,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,513 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP increased 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 worth $50,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,711,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 89bio by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,692,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,514,000 after purchasing an additional 686,054 shares during 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.