Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ATRA. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $13.00 price target on Atara Biotherapeutics and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Freedom Capital raised Atara Biotherapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atara Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATRA opened at $8.45 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.17. Atara Biotherapeutics has a one year low of $3.92 and a one year high of $19.15. The company has a market cap of $76.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.12.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.04. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 40.91% and a negative return on equity of 79.12%. The firm had revenue of $0.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 million. Equities research analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other news, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.13, for a total value of $47,850.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 137,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,258,451.81. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 41.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 6.6% during 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 148,632 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,689,000 after buying an additional 32,836 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P increased its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 399.6% in the fourth quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 77,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after buying an additional 61,766 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 183.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 63,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 41,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

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.