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

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, a growth of 55.1% from the October 15th total of 1,070,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 761,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATYR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. 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 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Down 8.9 %

Atyr PHARMA stock opened at $2.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $243.85 million, a PE ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.10. Atyr PHARMA has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $3.80. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.47.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Atyr PHARMA Company Profile

aTyr Pharma, Inc, a biotherapeutics company, engages in the discovery and development of medicines based on novel immunological pathways in the United States. Its lead therapeutic candidate is efzofitimod, a selective modulator of NRP2 that is in Phase III clinical trial for pulmonary sarcoidosis; and in Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for treatment of other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), such as chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and connective tissue disease related ILD.