89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 7,066,891 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 153% from the previous session’s volume of 2,793,920 shares.The stock last traded at $14.81 and had previously closed at $14.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ETNB. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of 89BIO from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89BIO in a report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright cut shares of 89BIO from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $14.50 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of 89BIO from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of 89BIO from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.81.

89BIO Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.47. The company has a quick ratio of 15.19, a current ratio of 15.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.22). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.48) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that 89BIO will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the insider owned 309,364 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On 89BIO

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in 89BIO by 25.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of 89BIO by 12.6% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 12,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of 89BIO by 2.1% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of 89BIO by 0.6% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 258,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of 89BIO by 0.9% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 186,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period.

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.