Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the August 15th total of 2,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 233,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.1 days. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVIR has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Atea Pharmaceuticals from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $2.00 to $6.88 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. William Blair upgraded Atea Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Atea Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce Polsky sold 17,544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.49, for a total transaction of $61,228.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,964.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atea Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RPO LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. BML Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the first quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 5,536,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,368,000 after buying an additional 74,631 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 67.6% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 6,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 86.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ AVIR traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.87. 870,831 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,838. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $2.77 and a 52-week high of $4.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.73. The firm has a market cap of $325.94 million, a PE ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 0.18.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by $0.28. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.34) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Atea Pharmaceuticals will post -2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Atea Pharmaceuticals

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes antiviral therapeutics for patients with viral infections. Its lead product candidate is AT-527, an oral antiviral candidate that is in Phase 3 SUNRISE-3 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.