Short Interest in Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Increases By 8.5%

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 410,500 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the August 15th total of 378,500 shares. Approximately 11.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 127,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Down 11.5 %

NASDAQ:ATRA opened at $8.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.82. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 12-month low of $4.96 and a 12-month high of $49.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.43 million, a P/E ratio of -0.16 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 8,916.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,958,150 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903,159 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,638,687 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 873,133 shares in the last quarter. Redmile Group LLC increased its stake 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 worth $6,429,000 after acquiring an additional 156,863 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 383,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 86,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 70.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATRA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Atara Biotherapeutics from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.50.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

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.