Morgan Stanley Cuts Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) Price Target to $6.00

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $6.20 to $6.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Separately, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Atea Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AVIR opened at $2.71 on Friday. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $2.60 and a 1 year high of $4.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.77 million, a PE ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 0.17.

Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.05). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Atea Pharmaceuticals will post -2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVIR. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Atea Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Atea Pharmaceuticals by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Shay Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Shay Capital LLC now owns 30,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 12,871 shares during the period. 86.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.