Short Interest in Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Increases By 20.9%

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,260,000 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the February 13th total of 4,350,000 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Performance

Shares of ATYR stock opened at $3.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.11. The firm has a market cap of $322.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 0.98. Atyr PHARMA has a 1 year low of $1.42 and a 1 year high of $4.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a current ratio of 5.41.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.05. Analysts predict that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atyr PHARMA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter worth about $6,092,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ATYR. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, March 14th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Atyr PHARMA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atyr PHARMA presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.60.

About Atyr PHARMA

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.