Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,739,353 shares, a decrease of 37.6% from the April 30th total of 5,995,936 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 665,961 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Protara Therapeutics news, insider Jacqueline Zummo sold 22,598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $118,865.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 95,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,754.86. This represents a 19.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Protara Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in shares of Protara Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Protara Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Protara Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Protara Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Protara Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 38.13% of the company’s stock.

Protara Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TARA opened at $4.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.91 million, a PE ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.69. Protara Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $2.77 and a fifty-two week high of $7.82.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.05. On average, equities analysts expect that Protara Therapeutics will post -1.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TARA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Protara Therapeutics from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Protara Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.25.

Protara Therapeutics Company Profile

Protara Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for virus-driven cancers. The company’s primary areas of research include human papillomavirus (HPV)–associated malignancies, where it seeks to harness and enhance the body’s immune response to target tumor cells. Protara’s therapeutic strategy combines antigen-specific vaccination approaches with modulators of T-cell activation to improve clinical outcomes in patients with HPV-mediated disease.

Protara’s lead immunotherapy candidate is PTX-35, an investigational monoclonal antibody designed to agonize OX40, a co-stimulatory receptor on T cells.