Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,399,060 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the February 26th total of 4,895,488 shares. Currently, 13.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,033,650 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

Institutional Trading of Protara Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Protara Therapeutics by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,141,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,379,000 after purchasing an additional 910,285 shares during the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP increased its position in Protara Therapeutics by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 2,834,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,109,000 after buying an additional 695,652 shares during the period. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its position in Protara Therapeutics by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 2,250,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,992,000 after buying an additional 850,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,904,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,283,000 after buying an additional 102,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 36.9% in the second quarter. Acorn Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,752,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after buying an additional 472,315 shares during the last quarter. 38.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Protara Therapeutics Stock Performance

Protara Therapeutics stock opened at $4.94 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.09 and its 200-day moving average is $5.53. Protara Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.77 and a 1 year high of $7.82. The company has a market cap of $267.16 million, a P/E ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 1.40.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.03). As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Protara Therapeutics will post -3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

About Protara Therapeutics

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.