Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,650,000 shares, a growth of 25.0% from the December 31st total of 2,920,000 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATYR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Atyr PHARMA currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $19.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atyr PHARMA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA by 52.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 10,754 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter worth $170,000. Finally, Alterna Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATYR traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 692,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 812,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a current ratio of 5.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.11 and a beta of 1.08. Atyr PHARMA has a fifty-two week low of $1.42 and a fifty-two week high of $4.22.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.01). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

About Atyr PHARMA

aTyr Pharma, Inc engages in the discovery and development of medicines based on novel biological pathways. Its product pipeline includes ATYR1923, ATYR2810, NRP2 mAbs, and AARS-1, DARS-1. The company was founded by Paul Schimmel, Xiang-Lei Yang and Bruce Beutler on September 8, 2005 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.