Short Interest in Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Increases By 12.8%

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) was the recipient 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. Based on an average daily volume of 128,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 12.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $79,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the first quarter worth $29,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 29.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 383,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 86,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redmile Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 1.7% in the first quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 9,263,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,429,000 after purchasing an additional 156,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATRA. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Mizuho upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atara Biotherapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

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

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

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.