Wall Street Zen Downgrades Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) to Sell

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

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ATRA. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, New Street Research set a $6.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Down 4.1%

Atara Biotherapeutics stock opened at $4.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.16 million, a P/E ratio of 1.57 and a beta of -0.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.25. Atara Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $3.92 and a twelve month high of $19.15.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.43. The business had revenue of $1.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.70 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 79.12% and a net margin of 27.07%. Equities analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other 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 value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATRA. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.