Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) Short Interest Update

Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,739,353 shares, a decrease of 37.6% from the April 30th total of 5,995,936 shares. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 665,961 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TARA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Protara Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.25.

Protara Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of TARA stock opened at $4.41 on Friday. Protara Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $2.77 and a 52-week high of $7.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.84 million, a PE ratio of -3.29 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.67.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.05. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Protara Therapeutics will post -1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Protara Therapeutics

In other news, insider Jacqueline Zummo sold 22,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $118,865.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 95,961 shares in the company, valued at $504,754.86. This represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Protara Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 86.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 925,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,824,000 after buying an additional 430,014 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,207,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,155,000 after buying an additional 65,395 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 2,464 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 204.0% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 443,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 297,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 133.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 531,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,767,000 after buying an additional 304,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.13% of the company’s stock.

About Protara Therapeutics

Protara Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for virus-driven cancers. The company’s primary areas of research include human papillomavirus (HPV)–associated malignancies, where it seeks to harness and enhance the body’s immune response to target tumor cells. Protara’s therapeutic strategy combines antigen-specific vaccination approaches with modulators of T-cell activation to improve clinical outcomes in patients with HPV-mediated disease.

Protara’s lead immunotherapy candidate is PTX-35, an investigational monoclonal antibody designed to agonize OX40, a co-stimulatory receptor on T cells.