Emerald Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 1,550,671 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB)

Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,550,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,273,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned approximately 1.06% of 89BIO at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETNB. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in 89BIO during the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of 89BIO by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 358,574 shares of the company's stock worth $2,804,000 after purchasing an additional 32,867 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 89BIO by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,185 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 89BIO by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 29,149 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 7,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 89BIO by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 854,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,684,000 after acquiring an additional 60,075 shares during the period.

89BIO Stock Up 2.0%

89BIO stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,435,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,048. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.54. 89BIO has a one year low of $4.16 and a one year high of $11.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 18.03 and a quick ratio of 18.03.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.54) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that 89BIO will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at 89BIO

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ETNB. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of 89BIO to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.43.

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.