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

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

Atyr PHARMA Price Performance

Shares of ATYR stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.61. 666,129 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 824,665. The stock has a market cap of $303.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 5.41, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3.39. Atyr PHARMA has a 1-year low of $1.39 and a 1-year high of $4.22.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atyr PHARMA

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Atyr PHARMA stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) by 52.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,440 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,754 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Atyr PHARMA were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Atyr PHARMA Company Profile

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.