Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Trading Down 21.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) traded down 21.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.08 and last traded at $13.67. 839,300 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 684% from the average session volume of 106,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATRA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $25.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.22. The stock has a market cap of $98.56 million, a P/E ratio of 6.27 and a beta of -0.41.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 million. On average, analysts forecast that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Atara Biotherapeutics

In related news, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $38,448.85. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $857,007.06. This represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,523 shares of company stock valued at $86,038. Insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 33.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,213 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 183.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 63,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 41,302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.