Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) Stock Price Up 1.6% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Atea shares rose about 1.6% to $5.61 midday with volume down ~47% versus the daily average; the stock sits above its 50‑day SMA ($5.40) and 200‑day SMA ($4.09) and has a market cap of roughly $447M (trailing PE -2.89).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — one Strong Buy and one Sell, with Weiss Ratings reaffirming a "sell (d-)," while MarketBeat's consensus rating is a Moderate Buy.
• The company missed quarterly EPS expectations (reported -$0.57 vs. est. -$0.49) and analysts project -2.09 EPS for the year; Atea is a clinical‑stage antiviral developer whose lead candidate, AT‑527, targets COVID‑19, and institutional investors own about 86.7% of the stock.

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR - Get Free Report) rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.67 and last traded at $5.61. Approximately 170,313 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 320,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atea Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Atea Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.09. The firm has a market cap of $446.95 million, a PE ratio of -2.89 and a beta of 0.16.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.08). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atea Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 102,607 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 45,716 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 119,420 shares of the company's stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,791 shares of the company's stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 10,930 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 86.67% of the company's stock.

About Atea Pharmaceuticals

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics targeting RNA viruses. The company's lead program, AT-527, is a direct-acting nucleotide prodrug licensed from Roche and is being evaluated as a potential treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition to its COVID-19 efforts, Atea's pipeline includes other small-molecule candidates for hepatitis C virus and emerging RNA pathogens, leveraging its proprietary nucleotide chemistry platform to address significant unmet medical needs in infectious diseases.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Atea operates research laboratories in the Greater Boston area and conducts clinical studies across North America, Europe and parts of Asia.

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