89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Receives “Sell (D-)” Rating from Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their sell (d-) rating on shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) in a report issued on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.56.

89bio Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:ETNB opened at $8.52 on Friday. 89bio has a 12 month low of $5.99 and a 12 month high of $11.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 11.66, a current ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $8.94 and its 200-day moving average is $8.42.

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). Equities analysts anticipate that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,554,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. This trade represents a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,196.17. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 89bio by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 1.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 140,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Sandia Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Sandia Investment Management LP now owns 11,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during 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.