Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Stock Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.29 and traded as low as $4.34. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $4.43, with a volume of 103,737 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ATRA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. New Street Research set a $6.00 target price on Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atara Biotherapeutics has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Down 1.3%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.94 million, a P/E ratio of 2.03 and a beta of -0.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, 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 transaction of $488,962.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,324,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,039,387.22. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.