Brian Cherry Buys 104,166 Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Stock

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Director Brian Cherry acquired 104,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $9.60 per share, for a total transaction of $999,993.60. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 166,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,265.60. This trade represents a 167.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ATRA traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.76. The stock had a trading volume of 132,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,794. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.92 and a 1-year high of $19.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.99 million, a P/E ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.73.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.32). Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 79.12% and a negative net margin of 269.42%.The business had revenue of $0.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.55 million. Equities analysts predict that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $13.00 target price on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATRA. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $181,000. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.