Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) Shares Down 1.2% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Atea Pharmaceuticals shares fell 1.2% to $5.07, with trading volume 27% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward “Hold”: the consensus price target is $7.00, with ratings ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $0.41 per share versus the projected $0.56 loss, while institutional investors own 86.67% of its stock.

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.2% on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $4.98 and last traded at $5.07. Approximately 229,367 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 312,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Atea Pharmaceuticals from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atea Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atea Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.00.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.06. The firm has a market cap of $406.66 million, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Institutional Trading of Atea Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Atea Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,548,000. Irenic Capital Management LP bought a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $1,623,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 258,989 shares of the company's stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 17,715 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $1,133,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 262.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 206,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 149,776 shares during the period. 86.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Atea Pharmaceuticals

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing oral antiviral medicines for serious viral infections. The company's research centers on small-molecule therapies designed to interfere with viral replication, with the goal of addressing diseases for which convenient and effective oral treatment options are needed.

Atea's lead investigational product is bemnifosbuvir, an oral nucleotide polymerase inhibitor developed for the treatment of COVID-19.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.