Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Major Shareholder Sells $488,962.78 in Stock

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) major shareholder Innovation Ltd Panacea sold 80,554 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.07, for a total value of $488,962.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,324,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,039,387.22. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $4.47. The stock had a trading volume of 868,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,388. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $14.74 and a 200 day moving average of $13.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.23 million, a P/E ratio of 2.05 and a beta of -0.41. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.25 and a twelve month high of $19.15.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.51. Atara Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 15.40% and a negative return on equity of 41.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 million. Equities analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ATRA shares. New Street Research set a $6.00 price objective on Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atara Biotherapeutics presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $327,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 203,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 12,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 33.8% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,213 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel T-cell immunotherapies to transform the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Atara leverages its proprietary off-the-shelf allogeneic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-directed T-cell platform to generate engineered cell therapies designed to target EBV-driven malignancies and immune-mediated disorders.

The company’s lead product candidate, tabelecleucel, is an off-the-shelf, EBV-specific T-cell therapy in clinical development for the treatment of EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) and other EBV-associated cancers.