Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,780,000 shares, a drop of 40.1% from the February 28th total of 2,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 347,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Protara Therapeutics

In other news, insider Jacqueline Zummo sold 21,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.53, for a total value of $96,144.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 98,861 shares in the company, valued at $447,840.33. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Protara Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $60,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Protara Therapeutics by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 170,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 29,514 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Protara Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $157,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Protara Therapeutics by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 201,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 22,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 5AM Venture Management LLC purchased a new stake in Protara Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,224,000. 38.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Protara Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of TARA opened at $4.58 on Friday. Protara Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.60 and a fifty-two week high of $10.48. The company has a market capitalization of $168.39 million, a PE ratio of -1.62 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.67.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by $0.09. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Protara Therapeutics will post -3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TARA shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Lifesci Capital initiated coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Protara Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

About Protara Therapeutics

Protara Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in advancing transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases. The company's lead program is TARA-002, an investigational cell therapy, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and lymphatic malformations.