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 Atara Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.07, for a total transaction of $488,962.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,324,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,039,387.22. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATRA opened at $4.54 on Friday. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.25 and a fifty-two week high of $19.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.73 million, a P/E ratio of 2.08 and a beta of -0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.07.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.51. The company had revenue of $3.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 15.40% and a negative return on equity of 41.78%. Sell-side analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATRA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 6.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 203,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after buying an additional 12,677 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 183.5% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 63,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 41,302 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $327,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 33.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ATRA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. New Street Research set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atara Biotherapeutics currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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.