Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ENTA. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

ENTA stock opened at $7.49 on Wednesday. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $4.71 and a 52-week high of $17.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 0.54.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 171.57% and a negative return on equity of 73.02%. Equities analysts expect that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Enanta Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Jay R. Luly sold 5,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.06, for a total transaction of $41,444.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 801,638 shares in the company, valued at $6,461,202.28. This trade represents a 0.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 13.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Krensavage Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 19.7% in the third quarter. Krensavage Asset Management LLC now owns 1,498,074 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,520,000 after acquiring an additional 246,736 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,968,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 930,087 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 79,197 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 896,987 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,158,000 after acquiring an additional 165,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 477,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,946,000 after acquiring an additional 14,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

About Enanta Pharmaceuticals

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV.