89bio Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 12,935 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,544% compared to the average daily volume of 787 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was acquired 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 represents a 41.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total transaction of $91,207.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 328,323 shares in the company, valued at $1,953,521.85. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in 89bio by 206.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 4,236 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in 89bio during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 89bio by 4,898.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 7,495 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio in the 4th quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of 89bio during the 4th quarter worth $87,000.

89bio Price Performance

ETNB stock opened at $6.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $956.20 million, a PE ratio of -2.25 and a beta of 1.25. 89bio has a 12 month low of $4.16 and a 12 month high of $11.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.18. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.25.

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.