Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

ATRA has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock opened at $3.02 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.10. Atara Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $2.66 and a twelve month high of $10.01. The firm has a market cap of $289.70 million, a P/E ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.99.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.72) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by ($0.11). Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 359.12% and a negative return on equity of 140.05%. The firm had revenue of $0.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.00 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, CEO Pascal Touchon sold 15,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.63, for a total value of $56,914.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 750,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,725,142.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,330 shares of company stock valued at $129,165. Insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 8.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 25,962 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,469 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,472 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 3,076 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 15,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 1.5% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 249,283 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

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Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc is an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company, which engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with serious diseases including solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases. It also delivers off-the-shelf treatments to patients with high unmet medical need.