Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $0.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.55 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 79.12% and a negative net margin of 40.91%.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Up 3.2%

ATRA stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 90,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,689. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.23. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $3.92 and a 52 week high of $19.15. The stock has a market cap of $83.16 million, a PE ratio of -13.78 and a beta of 0.12.

Insider Activity at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other news, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.13, for a total value of $47,850.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 137,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,258,451.81. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 133.5% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 32,691 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 18,691 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 148,632 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 32,836 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 30,040 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 11,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATRA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $13.00 target price on Atara Biotherapeutics and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Atara Biotherapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

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.