aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.06 EPS

aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:ATYR) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.06), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $0.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.91 million.

aTyr Pharma Stock Performance

ATYR traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $0.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,496,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,944,241. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.74. aTyr Pharma has a 52-week low of $0.68 and a 52-week high of $7.29. The company has a market capitalization of $80.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 0.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATYR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of aTyr Pharma in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of aTyr Pharma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of aTyr Pharma from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of aTyr Pharma in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Jones Trading lowered shares of aTyr Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.25.

Insider Activity

In other aTyr Pharma news, Director Paul Schimmel purchased 682,001 shares of aTyr Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $0.90 per share, with a total value of $613,800.90. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,095,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $985,521.60. This represents a 165.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in aTyr Pharma in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of aTyr Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of aTyr Pharma in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new stake in aTyr Pharma during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

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.