89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Trading Up 6.1% - Here's What Happened

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 6.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $6.38 and last traded at $6.43. 125,228 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,306,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of 89bio in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup started coverage on 89bio in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.25.

89bio Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a current ratio of 11.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $7.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 1.25.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 expect that 89bio, Inc. will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at 89bio

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total transaction of $91,207.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 328,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,953,521.85. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. This represents a 41.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in 89bio by 206.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 4,236 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in 89bio during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 89bio by 4,898.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 7,495 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in 89bio in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in 89bio during the fourth quarter worth $87,000.

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.