89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Short Interest Up 12.2% in December

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,790,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the December 15th total of 6,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 943,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ETNB. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James upgraded 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.33.

89bio Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of ETNB stock traded up $0.22 on Friday, reaching $6.31. 1,863,182 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,074,441. 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 has a one year low of $5.99 and a one year high of $16.63. The stock has a market cap of $669.68 million, a PE ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rohan Palekar purchased 5,000 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.89 per share, for a total transaction of $39,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 471,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,718,052.04. This represents a 1.07 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 25,000 shares of company stock worth $202,950. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of 89bio by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 128,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 27,334 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in 89bio by 219.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 63,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 43,842 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in 89bio in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,238,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in 89bio during the 2nd quarter worth $256,000. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 89bio by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 450,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,604,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 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.