Traders Buy High Volume of aTyr Pharma Put Options (NASDAQ:ATYR)

Key Points

• Traders showed a significant interest in aTyr Pharma, purchasing 9,652 put options, a 20% increase from the usual volume of 8,060.
• Jefferies Financial Group and Wells Fargo raised their target prices for aTyr Pharma to $17.00 and $25.00 respectively, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from "hold" to "sell."
• Recently, institutional investors have increased their stakes in aTyr Pharma, with 61.72% of the stock currently owned by them.

aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,652 put options on the company. Thisisanincreaseof20% compared to the typical volume of 8,060 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on aTyr Pharma from $9.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on aTyr Pharma from $17.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut aTyr Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of aTyr Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.25.

aTyr Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATYR traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, hitting $5.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,129,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,546,302. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.30. aTyr Pharma has a 1 year low of $1.67 and a 1 year high of $7.29. The company has a market capitalization of $566.87 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.63.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.04). Sell-side analysts forecast that aTyr Pharma will post -0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On aTyr Pharma

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of aTyr Pharma during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $881,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in aTyr Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at $330,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in aTyr Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $720,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in aTyr Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,332,000. 61.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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.