aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR) saw strong trading volume on Thursday. 111,433 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 78% from the average daily volume of 62,656 shares. The stock last traded at $5.36 and had previously closed at $5.1360.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ATYR. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of aTyr Pharma from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised aTyr Pharma to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, aTyr Pharma has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

aTyr Pharma Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 million, a PE ratio of -0.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.14.

aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported ($4.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.86) by $0.46. On average, equities research analysts forecast that aTyr Pharma, Inc. will post -17.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of aTyr Pharma

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in aTyr Pharma stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 40,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

About aTyr Pharma

aTyr Pharma, Inc (NASDAQ:ATYR) is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that modulate immune system activity. The company’s research is based on a class of naturally occurring proteins known as extracellular tRNA synthetases, which can influence biological processes involved in inflammation, tissue repair and immune regulation.

aTyr’s lead product candidate is efzofitimod, an engineered protein therapeutic designed to target neuropilin-2 and regulate immune responses in the lungs.