89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Trading Up 6.1% - Should You Buy?

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $6.38 and last traded at $6.43. 125,228 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,306,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETNB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of 89bio in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 89bio currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.25.

89bio Stock Up 3.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of -2.37 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $7.79 and a 200-day moving average of $8.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 11.66 and a quick ratio of 11.66.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). Equities research analysts anticipate that 89bio, Inc. will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 328,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,953,521.85. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. This represents a 41.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 89bio by 228.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 214,768 shares of the company's stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 149,479 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 89bio by 8.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company's stock worth $15,358,000 after acquiring an additional 160,356 shares during the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of 89bio during the third quarter valued at about $2,224,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 89bio by 77.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 43,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 89bio by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 251,898 shares of the company's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 23,968 shares in the last quarter.

About 89bio

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.