Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 574,455 Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR)

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 574,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,080,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.68% of Atyr PHARMA as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ATYR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Atyr PHARMA by 52.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 10,754 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Alterna Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA in the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atyr PHARMA during the fourth quarter valued at $144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Atyr PHARMA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATYR traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 212,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 899,488. The firm has a market cap of $305.23 million, a P/E ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $3.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.38. Atyr PHARMA INC has a 1-year low of $1.42 and a 1-year high of $4.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a current ratio of 5.41.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.05. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Atyr PHARMA INC will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Atyr PHARMA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atyr PHARMA has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.60.

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.