Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Short Interest Up 12.8% in September

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 463,000 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the August 31st total of 410,500 shares. Approximately 12.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 128,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth about $79,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Redmile Group LLC boosted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 9,263,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,429,000 after buying an additional 156,863 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 8,916.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,958,150 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,442,000 after acquiring an additional 4,903,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock opened at $8.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.16 million, a PE ratio of -0.15 and a beta of 0.50. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $4.96 and a 52 week high of $45.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.12.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.56) by ($1.54). The business had revenue of $28.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.30 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -12.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATRA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $25.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Atara Biotherapeutics from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc develops therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States. 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.