Short Interest in Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) Grows By 109.1%

Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 480,579 shares, an increase of 109.1% from the April 30th total of 229,817 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 777,769 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics from $23.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics from $15.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Artiva Biotherapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Fred Aslan sold 27,116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.01, for a total transaction of $244,315.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,535,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,831,088.82. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, major shareholder Corp. Gc acquired 1,085,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.52 per share, with a total value of $12,499,994.88. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,391,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,595,482.88. This trade represents a 32.81% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 7,942,707 shares of company stock valued at $91,499,985 and have sold 53,040 shares valued at $477,890. Company insiders own 21.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Artiva Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Artiva Biotherapeutics by 419.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 798,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after acquiring an additional 644,658 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Artiva Biotherapeutics by 14,463.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 118,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 117,733 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Artiva Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $341,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Artiva Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $112,000.

Artiva Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARTV opened at $7.93 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.88. The firm has a market cap of $196.03 million, a PE ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 2.40. Artiva Biotherapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.47 and a 1 year high of $14.53.

Artiva Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARTV) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.07). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Artiva Biotherapeutics will post -2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Artiva Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of allogeneic “off-the-shelf” cell therapies for cancer. The company’s proprietary platform leverages natural killer (NK) cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or other targeting modalities, with the goal of delivering potent anti-tumor activity while minimizing the safety and supply limitations associated with patient-derived (autologous) approaches.

Artiva’s pipeline includes multiple lead product candidates designed to address both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.