China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,932 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,562 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in 89bio were worth $195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 89bio by 77.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 43,384 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in 89bio during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 89bio by 228.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 214,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 149,479 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 89bio by 8.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,074,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,358,000 after purchasing an additional 160,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in 89bio by 2,153.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 73,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 70,129 shares during the last quarter.

89bio Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:ETNB opened at $9.29 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.84 and a 200 day moving average of $8.19. 89bio, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.99 and a 52 week high of $16.63. The company has a quick ratio of 11.66, a current ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $985.91 million, a P/E ratio of -3.19 and a beta of 1.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Saturday. Raymond James upgraded shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.43.

Insider Activity at 89bio

In related news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.75 per share, with a total value of $49,999,993.75. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rohan Palekar acquired 10,000 shares of 89bio stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.35 per share, for a total transaction of $83,500.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 5,744,285 shares of company stock worth $50,235,694 in the last three months. 2.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.