Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) Short Interest Up 113.4% in May

Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 1,025,413 shares, a growth of 113.4% from the May 14th total of 480,610 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 518,668 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Artiva Biotherapeutics Price Performance

ARTV traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,431,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,022. Artiva Biotherapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.47 and a fifty-two week high of $14.53. The stock has a market cap of $211.08 million, a PE ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 2.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $8.93 and its 200-day moving average is $6.14.

Artiva Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARTV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.07). Analysts expect that Artiva Biotherapeutics will post -2.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ARTV. Wedbush upped their price target on Artiva Biotherapeutics from $23.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Artiva Biotherapeutics from $15.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Insider Transactions at Artiva Biotherapeutics

In other news, SVP Heather Raymon sold 3,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.01, for a total value of $27,885.95. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 148,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,335,534.28. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 548,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.91 per share, with a total value of $4,339,267.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,231,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,392,881.47. This represents a 3.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 8,970,429 shares of company stock worth $99,150,133 and have sold 53,040 shares worth $477,890. Company insiders own 21.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARTV. Prelude Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Artiva Biotherapeutics during the third quarter worth $41,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Artiva Biotherapeutics by 225.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 11,190 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Artiva Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $53,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Artiva Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Artiva Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $67,000.

About Artiva Biotherapeutics

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.