Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 463,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the August 31st total of 410,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 128,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 12.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redmile Group LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 156,863 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 8,916.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,958,150 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,442,000 after acquiring an additional 4,903,159 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Atara Biotherapeutics by 49.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 873,133 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 86,842 shares during the period. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ATRA. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Atara Biotherapeutics in a research 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 dropped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Atara Biotherapeutics from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Up 5.4 %

ATRA stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,377. The company has a market cap of $38.90 million, a PE ratio of -0.15 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.26 and its 200-day moving average is $12.21. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 12 month low of $4.96 and a 12 month high of $45.75.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.56) by ($1.54). The company had revenue of $28.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.30 million. Analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -12.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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.