Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ATRA. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.25.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of ATRA stock opened at $3.02 on Thursday. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.66 and a 1 year high of $10.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.70 million, a P/E ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.99.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.72) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by ($0.11). Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 359.12% and a negative return on equity of 140.05%. The business had revenue of $0.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Pascal Touchon sold 15,679 shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.63, for a total transaction of $56,914.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 750,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,725,142.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,330 shares of company stock valued at $129,165. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATRA. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,273,617 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,418 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 88.8% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 3,823,588 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,072 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,638,106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,579 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,849,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,861,252 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,029,000 after purchasing an additional 671,353 shares during the period.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc is an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company, which engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with serious diseases including solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases. It also delivers off-the-shelf treatments to patients with high unmet medical need.