Traders Purchase Large Volume of 89bio Call Options (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 2,228 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 346% compared to the typical daily volume of 499 call options.

89bio Stock Performance

Shares of ETNB opened at $9.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.18. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $954.75 million, a P/E ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 1.14.

Insider Activity at 89bio

In other news, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.89 per share, with a total value of $39,450.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 471,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,718,052.04. This represents a 1.07 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $235,700 in the last 90 days. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in 89bio by 14.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,158,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,140,000 after buying an additional 1,882,108 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of 89bio by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,006,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,245,000 after buying an additional 686,673 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 89bio by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,358,000 after acquiring an additional 160,356 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of 89bio during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,631,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 89bio by 8.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,336,000 after acquiring an additional 53,932 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

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.