Brokerages Set Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) Price Target at $17.25

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.25.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Enanta Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.5 %

ENTA stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.74. The company had a trading volume of 8,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,967. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.54 million, a P/E ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.81. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $4.09 and a one year high of $17.24.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 75.53% and a negative net margin of 157.57%. On average, research analysts forecast that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Enanta Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Jay R. Luly purchased 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.69 per share, for a total transaction of $256,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 846,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,817,370.22. This represents a 5.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Enanta Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENTA. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 294.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 20,478 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 477,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,946,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 243,628 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,524,000 after buying an additional 85,082 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,856 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 49,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

About Enanta Pharmaceuticals

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV.