226,050 Shares in 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Bought by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP has acquired 226,050 shares of 89BIO, valued at approximately $1.64 million, indicating substantial institutional interest in the company.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have recently increased their stakes in 89BIO, highlighting broad support among major funds.
• 89BIO reported an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.49), slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, while the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $26.43.

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 226,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,643,000. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.15% of 89BIO as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in 89BIO during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,981,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of 89BIO by 130.1% during the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 33,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of 89BIO during the 1st quarter valued at about $93,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 89BIO by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of 89BIO by 9,265.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter.

89BIO Trading Down 3.6%

ETNB stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.16. The company had a trading volume of 326,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,546. The company has a current ratio of 18.03, a quick ratio of 18.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. 89BIO has a 52 week low of $4.16 and a 52 week high of $11.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $10.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 1.28.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.01. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.54) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that 89BIO will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $115,280.22. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 309,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,409,191.28. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ETNB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded 89BIO to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 89BIO presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.43.

89BIO 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.