Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) Short Interest Down 12.9% in January

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,770,000 shares, a drop of 12.9% from the December 31st total of 3,180,000 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 309,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.0 days.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Atea Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.06. 264,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 435,340. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $2.75 and a 12 month high of $4.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.45.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.13. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.40) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atea Pharmaceuticals will post -2.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atea Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Franklin M. Berger sold 359,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $1,024,877.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 451,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,287,906.45. This represents a 44.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 17.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atea Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVIR. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 34,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,339 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 6,343 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,733,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,807,000 after purchasing an additional 11,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.67% of the company’s stock.

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.