Short Interest in Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Rises By 31.6%

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,920,000 shares, a growth of 31.6% from the February 28th total of 5,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days. Currently, 8.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ATYR shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Atyr PHARMA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atyr PHARMA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Atyr PHARMA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,092,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Atyr PHARMA Price Performance

NASDAQ:ATYR opened at $3.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.20. Atyr PHARMA has a 12 month low of $1.42 and a 12 month high of $4.66. The firm has a market cap of $268.80 million, a P/E ratio of -3.19 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 5.41, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.05. On average, analysts expect that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.