Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) saw significant growth in short-term interest in July. As of July 31, there was short interest totaling 10,540,000 shares, a growth of 31.1% from the total of 8,040,000 shares as of July 15. Based on an average daily trading volume of 2,200,000 shares, the short-term interest rate ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Atara Biotherapeutics grows by 22.6%

ATRA stock traded at $1.05 on Friday, hitting $5.70. 214,904 shares of the company were traded, compared to its average volume of 3,636,147. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $2.83 and a 1-year high of $20.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $537.85 million, a price-earnings ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty-day moving average of $5.37 and a 200-day moving average of $8.06.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) last reported quarterly results on Monday, August 8. The biotech company reported earnings per share of $0.18 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of ($0.91) by $1.09. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 344.87% and a negative return on equity of 111.20%. During the same period last year, the company achieved EPS of ($0.91). On average, equity research analysts expect Atara Biotherapeutics to post -3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider buying and selling

In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, Chief Financial Officer Utpal Koppikar sold 5,582 shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a trade that took place on Tuesday, May 17. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total transaction of $29,696.24. Following the sale, the CFO now directly owns 207,592 shares of the company, valued at approximately $1,104,389.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, accessible via this hyperlink. In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, CEO Pascal Touchon sold 14,220 shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a trade dated Monday, June 27. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.20, for a total transaction of $102,384.00. As a result of the transaction, the CEO now directly owns 472,093 shares of the company, valued at $3,399,069.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. Additionally, CFO Utpal Koppikar sold 5,582 shares of the company in a trade on Tuesday, May 17. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.32, for a total transaction of $29,696.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the CFO now owns 207,592 shares of the company, valued at approximately $1,104,389.44. The disclosure of this sale can be found here. During the last quarter, insiders sold 40,811 shares of the company worth $243,848. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s shares.

Institutional trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter, valued at around $126,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,846,060 shares of the biotech company valued at $45,541,000 after purchasing an additional 99,320 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 101.6% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 26,885 shares of the biotech company valued at $209,000 after buying 13,547 additional shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,185 shares of the biotech company worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 19,831 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in Q2 worth approximately $4,806,000.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATRA. StockNews.com upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics shares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced his price target for the stock from $16.00 to $5.00 in a research report Wednesday, July 13. Goldman Sachs Group lowered its price target on Atara Biotherapeutics shares from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright cut its price target on Atara Biotherapeutics from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a Monday, May 23 report. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced its price target on Atara Biotherapeutics from $67.00 to $50.00 in a Wednesday, July 13 report. Two investment analysts have assigned the stock a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned the company a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.14.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc, a ready-to-use T-cell immunotherapy company, is developing treatments for patients with cancer, autoimmune and viral diseases in the United States. It is developing tabelecleucel, a T-cell immunotherapy that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, as well as hematological tumors and solids, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Further reading

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