Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Short Interest Up 8.5% in August

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 11.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 127,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATRA traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 104,928. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 12-month low of $4.96 and a 12-month high of $49.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.79 million, a P/E ratio of -0.16 and a beta of 0.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.56) by ($1.54). The firm had revenue of $28.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.30 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -12.09 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATRA. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $79,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 49.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,638,687 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 873,133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

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.