Analysts Set 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Price Target at $27.56

Shares of 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.56.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on 89bio in a report on Friday, March 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. This trade represents a 41.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the transaction, 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. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 89bio by 172.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,961 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 89bio during the 3rd quarter valued at $160,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 89bio by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,336,000 after acquiring an additional 53,932 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of 89bio by 103.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 31,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $22,245,000 after acquiring an additional 686,673 shares in the last quarter.

89bio Stock Performance

ETNB opened at $8.52 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.94 and its 200-day moving average is $8.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.17. 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 twelve month low of $5.99 and a twelve month high of $11.89.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.42). On average, analysts predict that 89bio will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.