Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Stock Price Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA)’s stock price passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.06 and traded as low as $12.05. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $12.55, with a volume of 62,968 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Up 2.7%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.55. The company has a market capitalization of $90.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.76 and a beta of -0.42.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.51. The business had revenue of $3.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 15.40% and a negative return on equity of 41.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 2,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $38,448.85. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 64,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $857,007.06. This trade represents a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 6,523 shares of company stock valued at $86,038 in the last ninety days. 4.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $327,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,213 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 60.0% during the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 80,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its lead product includes Tab-cel (tabelecleucel), a T-cell immunotherapy program that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epstein-barr virus (EBV) driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma.