BlackRock Inc. Makes New $40.55 Million Investment in Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AVIR

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 8.72 million shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter, worth approximately $40.55 million and representing about 10.9% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 86.67% of AVIR.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $7.00 versus the reported share price of $5.49.
• Atea reported a quarterly loss of $0.41 per share, beating the expected $0.56 loss. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is developing oral antiviral treatments, including its lead COVID-19 program, AT-527.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,720,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,548,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 10.90% of Atea Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 118.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,348,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,813,000 after buying an additional 731,443 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 179.2% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 487,223 shares of the company's stock worth $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 312,733 shares during the last quarter. Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $1,623,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,133,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 185.8% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 313,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 203,905 shares during the last quarter. 86.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Atea Pharmaceuticals from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.00.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AVIR opened at $5.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $440.35 million, a PE ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $4.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.03. Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.78 and a fifty-two week high of $6.45.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.15. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.99 EPS for the current year.

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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