Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Shares Cross Below 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA)’s share price passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.06 and traded as low as $4.30. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $4.32, with a volume of 77,139 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ATRA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday. New Street Research set a $6.00 price objective on Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Atara Biotherapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atara Biotherapeutics has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Down 5.9%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.92. The company has a market capitalization of $35.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.38 and a beta of -0.44.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.43. The business had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.70 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 27.07% and a negative return on equity of 79.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, major shareholder Innovation Ltd Panacea sold 80,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 1,324,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,039,387.22. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ATRA. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $181,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position 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 valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.