Knott David M Jr Reduces Stake in aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR)

Key Points

• David M Jr Knott reduced his stake in aTyr Pharma by 27.5%, owning 223,407 shares after selling 84,726 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Point72 Asset Management and Woodline Partners, have recently acquired new positions in aTyr Pharma during the fourth quarter.
• aTyr Pharma's earnings report showed a loss of ($0.22) EPS, missing analysts' expectations, while its average stock rating is considered a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $20.20.

Knott David M Jr lessened its stake in shares of aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR - Free Report) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,407 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,726 shares during the quarter. Knott David M Jr owned about 0.25% of aTyr Pharma worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ATYR. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in aTyr Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,677,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in aTyr Pharma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,092,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in aTyr Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $4,628,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at $3,620,000. Finally, Octagon Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $3,258,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

aTyr Pharma Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ATYR opened at $5.30 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.63 and a current ratio of 5.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.62 and a beta of 0.94. aTyr Pharma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.67 and a 52-week high of $7.29.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ATYR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on aTyr Pharma from $17.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of aTyr Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut aTyr Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.20.

About aTyr Pharma

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ATYR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.