Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the August 15th total of 2,490,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 233,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVIR shares. William Blair upgraded shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $2.00 to $6.88 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th.

Insider Activity

In other Atea Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce Polsky sold 17,544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.49, for a total value of $61,228.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 65,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,964.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atea Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVIR. Sunpointe LLC bought a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. RPO LLC purchased a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 6,526 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $87,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 34,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of AVIR stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $3.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 870,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,838. The company has a market capitalization of $325.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.73. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $2.77 and a 1 year high of $4.60.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by $0.28. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.34) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Atea Pharmaceuticals will post -2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes antiviral therapeutics for patients with viral infections. Its lead product candidate is AT-527, an oral antiviral candidate that is in Phase 3 SUNRISE-3 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.