Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Sell (D-)" Rating for 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)

Weiss Ratings reiterated their sell (d-) rating on shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised their target price on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. 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 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on 89bio in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 89bio has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.25.

89bio Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of 89bio stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $8.02. 2,005,345 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,328,932. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $7.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 1.25. 89bio has a fifty-two week low of $4.16 and a fifty-two week high of $11.84.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.42). On average, sell-side analysts forecast that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at 89bio

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total value of $91,207.55. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 328,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,953,521.85. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of 89bio by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,514,056 shares of the company's stock worth $129,177,000 after buying an additional 1,355,838 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 89bio by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 10,202,696 shares of the company's stock worth $79,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,052 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 7,478,061 shares of the company's stock worth $58,478,000 after buying an additional 99,513 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP grew its position in shares of 89bio by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 6,478,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,711,737 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 89bio by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,692,331 shares of the company's stock worth $44,514,000 after buying an additional 686,054 shares during the period.

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.