89bio’s (ETNB) “Sell (D-)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reissued their sell (d-) rating on shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) in a report published on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Raymond James raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.56.

89bio Stock Performance

Shares of ETNB opened at $9.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 11.66 and a quick ratio of 11.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.00 and its 200-day moving average is $8.42. 89bio has a 12-month low of $5.99 and a 12-month high of $11.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.14 and a beta of 1.17.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.42). Equities research analysts anticipate that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 89bio news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total value of $71,149.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,764,196.17. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. purchased 5,714,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 89bio by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 334,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 15,760 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of 89bio by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 76,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,570 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 89bio by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 178,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 37,693 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of 89bio by 640.1% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 394,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,088,000 after purchasing an additional 341,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP bought a new stake in 89bio in the fourth quarter worth $4,268,000.

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.