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

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 685,800 shares, a growth of 55.5% from the August 31st total of 440,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 371,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATYR. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of ATYR opened at $1.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.88. The firm has a market cap of $134.17 million, a PE ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 7.63 and a current ratio of 7.63. Atyr PHARMA has a 52-week low of $1.08 and a 52-week high of $2.50.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.01. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Atyr PHARMA news, Director Paul Schimmel purchased 52,300 shares of Atyr PHARMA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.93 per share, with a total value of $100,939.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 413,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,134.39. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

About Atyr PHARMA

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.