Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the recipient 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. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Atyr PHARMA Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Atyr PHARMA stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $3.86. 692,080 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 812,959. Atyr PHARMA has a one year low of $1.42 and a one year high of $4.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.41 and a quick ratio of 5.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.02 million, a PE ratio of -4.11 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.67.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last released its earnings results 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). On average, research analysts expect that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Atyr PHARMA by 52.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 10,754 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter valued at about $170,000. 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.