Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Short Interest Update

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

Atyr PHARMA Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Atyr PHARMA stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $3.86. 692,080 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,822. The company has a market capitalization of $324.01 million, a P/E ratio of -4.11 and a beta of 1.08. Atyr PHARMA has a 52 week low of $1.42 and a 52 week high of $4.22. 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 50-day moving average is $3.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.69.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.01). Sell-side analysts predict that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Atyr PHARMA during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Atyr PHARMA by 52.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 10,754 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth about $170,000. Finally, Alterna Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ATYR shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

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.