Short Interest in Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Grows By 34.6%

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, an increase of 34.6% from the November 30th total of 2,170,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 988,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Atyr PHARMA Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ATYR traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.74. 1,046,593 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 603,420. The company has a market capitalization of $313.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.98 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $3.26. The company has a quick ratio of 5.41, a current ratio of 5.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Atyr PHARMA has a 12 month low of $1.38 and a 12 month high of $3.98.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) last posted 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, equities research analysts expect that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ATYR. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company.

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.