Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Short Interest Up 25.0% in January

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) saw a large increase in short interest in 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. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Atyr PHARMA Price Performance

Atyr PHARMA stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3.74. 571,581 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 819,320. Atyr PHARMA has a 12-month low of $1.42 and a 12-month high of $4.22. The company has a quick ratio of 5.41, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.66. The company has a market cap of $313.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.98 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atyr PHARMA

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATYR. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Atyr PHARMA during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA by 52.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 10,754 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter worth about $170,000. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.