Investors Buy Large Volume of 89bio Call Options (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 2,228 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 346% compared to the average volume of 499 call options.

89bio Trading Up 52.1 %

89bio stock traded up $3.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $10.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,112,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,390. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 1.14. 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 has a 1 year low of $5.99 and a 1 year high of $16.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $83,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 466,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,070.60. This trade represents a 2.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 271,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have acquired 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $235,700 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 89bio by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in 89bio during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in 89bio by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 5,612 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in 89bio during the fourth quarter worth about $739,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ETNB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Raymond James raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, 89bio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

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.