376,804 Shares in 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Acquired by Vivo Capital LLC

Key Points

• Vivo Capital LLC purchased 376,804 shares of 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) for approximately $2.74 million, holding about 0.26% of the company after the transaction.
• Several other large investors have significantly increased their stakes in 89BIO, including CWM LLC, which raised its investment by over 9,265% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" on 89BIO with a price target of $28.83, despite the company recently reporting a quarterly loss of ($0.71) EPS, missing estimates.

Vivo Capital LLC bought a new stake in 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 376,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,739,000. Vivo Capital LLC owned approximately 0.26% of 89BIO at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in 89BIO by 27.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 205,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 43,900 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in 89BIO by 30.2% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 101,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 23,607 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 89BIO by 21.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 985,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,167,000 after buying an additional 174,945 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 89BIO by 25.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,163,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,079,000 after buying an additional 1,471,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in 89BIO by 153.8% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at 89BIO

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $115,280.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 309,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,409,191.28. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of 89BIO to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of 89BIO from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.29.

89BIO Price Performance

Shares of ETNB traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.16. 2,015,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,421,459. The company has a quick ratio of 18.03, a current ratio of 18.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.92. 89BIO has a 52-week low of $4.16 and a 52-week high of $11.84. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 1.28.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.48) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that 89BIO will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.