Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,692,331 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 686,054 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 5.36% of 89bio worth $44,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in 89bio in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of 89bio in the 4th quarter worth $114,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of 89bio by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in 89bio by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 3,252 shares during the last quarter.

89bio Stock Up 10.8 %

NASDAQ:ETNB opened at $5.53 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.24. 89bio, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.16 and a 1-year high of $11.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.29 million, a P/E ratio of -1.90 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Insider Transactions at 89bio

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at $171,100,291.25. This trade represents a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,196.17. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.56.

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.