Short Interest in Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Increases By 21.4%

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 639,200 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the September 30th total of 526,400 shares. Approximately 16.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 119,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 29.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 383,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 86,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted 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 worth $1,830,000 after buying an additional 873,133 shares in the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised Atara Biotherapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock opened at $8.83 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.53 million, a PE ratio of -0.17 and a beta of 0.50. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 52-week low of $4.96 and a 52-week high of $39.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.10) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $48.30 million. Analysts predict that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -12.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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.