HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $21.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $29.00. HC Wainwright’s price target indicates a potential upside of 130.14% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ETNB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.29.

89bio Trading Down 2.1 %

89bio stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.13. The stock had a trading volume of 883,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,592,728. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $968.40 million, a PE ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.17. 89bio has a 12 month low of $5.99 and a 12 month high of $16.63. 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 (NASDAQ:ETNB) last released its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts forecast that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles Mcwherter bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $80,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. The trade was a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 5,734,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,152,194 over the last ninety days. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in 89bio by 206.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of 89bio in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of 89bio in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, Sandia Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of 89bio by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandia Investment Management LP now owns 11,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in 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.