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

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, a growth of 31.6% from the February 28th total of 5,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATYR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Atyr PHARMA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Down 3.5 %

ATYR opened at $3.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $268.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 0.98. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.64 and its 200 day moving average is $3.21. Atyr PHARMA has a fifty-two week low of $1.42 and a fifty-two week high of $4.66.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.05. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.