Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARTV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 1,025,413 shares, a growth of 113.4% from the May 14th total of 480,610 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 518,668 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARTV shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Artiva Biotherapeutics from $23.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Artiva Biotherapeutics

In related news, major shareholder Corp. Gc acquired 1,085,069 shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.52 per share, for a total transaction of $12,499,994.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,391,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,595,482.88. The trade was a 32.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Subhashis Banerjee sold 7,037 shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.01, for a total value of $63,403.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 144,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,306,116.63. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 8,970,429 shares of company stock worth $99,150,133 and sold 53,040 shares worth $477,890. Company insiders own 21.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Artiva Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in Artiva Biotherapeutics by 419.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 798,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,291,000 after acquiring an additional 644,658 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics by 14,463.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 118,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 117,733 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Artiva Biotherapeutics by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 116,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 37,053 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Artiva Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $341,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Artiva Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000.

Artiva Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Artiva Biotherapeutics stock opened at $9.23 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.93 and its 200-day moving average is $6.16. Artiva Biotherapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.47 and a 12 month high of $14.53. The company has a market cap of $228.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 2.40.

Artiva Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARTV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.07). Research analysts anticipate that Artiva Biotherapeutics will post -2.45 EPS for the current year.

About Artiva Biotherapeutics

Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of allogeneic “off-the-shelf” cell therapies for cancer. The company’s proprietary platform leverages natural killer (NK) cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or other targeting modalities, with the goal of delivering potent anti-tumor activity while minimizing the safety and supply limitations associated with patient-derived (autologous) approaches.

Artiva’s pipeline includes multiple lead product candidates designed to address both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.