aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• aTyr Pharma, Inc. has received an average analyst rating of "Hold" with one sell recommendation, six hold recommendations, and one buy recommendation.
• As of Friday, shares of aTyr Pharma opened at $0.97, with a one-year low of $0.68 and a high of $7.29.
• Insider Paul Schimmel recently purchased 317,999 shares of aTyr Pharma stock, increasing his ownership by nearly 29.04%.

aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of aTyr Pharma in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of aTyr Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jones Trading lowered shares of aTyr Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of aTyr Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of aTyr Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th.

aTyr Pharma Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of aTyr Pharma stock opened at $0.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.63 and a current ratio of 5.63. aTyr Pharma has a one year low of $0.68 and a one year high of $7.29. The company has a market cap of $94.62 million, a P/E ratio of -1.21 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.88.

aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). On average, analysts forecast that aTyr Pharma will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other aTyr Pharma news, Director Paul Schimmel bought 317,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $0.94 per share, for a total transaction of $298,919.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,413,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,328,241.62. This trade represents a 29.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On aTyr Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATYR. Octagon Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in aTyr Pharma by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP now owns 3,552,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,727,000 after acquiring an additional 2,652,000 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in aTyr Pharma by 334.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,599,041 shares of the company's stock worth $4,829,000 after buying an additional 1,231,052 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in aTyr Pharma by 126.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,098,076 shares of the company's stock worth $10,639,000 after buying an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of aTyr Pharma by 306,100.0% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 658,330 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 658,115 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

aTyr Pharma Company Profile

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.

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