Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Shares Cross Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.96 and traded as low as $8.93. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $8.93, with a volume of 27,264 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ATRA shares. TD Cowen upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.23. The company has a market capitalization of $85.74 million, a PE ratio of -7.24 and a beta of 0.10.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.32). Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 79.12% and a negative net margin of 269.42%.The company had revenue of $0.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.55 million. Equities research analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Brian Cherry acquired 104,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $999,993.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 166,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,265.60. The trade was a 167.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,062 shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.08, for a total transaction of $40,900.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,775 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,822. This represents a 3.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 41.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

A hedge fund recently raised its position in Atara Biotherapeutics stock. Globeflex Capital L P boosted its position in Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) by 399.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 61,766 shares during the quarter. Globeflex Capital L P owned 1.07% of Atara Biotherapeutics worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

Atara Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing allogeneic T-cell immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune diseases and other serious conditions. Its platform uses T cells derived from healthy donors and engineered or selected to recognize disease-associated targets, with the goal of creating “off-the-shelf” treatments that can be administered without collecting and manufacturing a patient’s own cells.

The company’s leading product is tabelecleucel, marketed as Ebvallo, an allogeneic T-cell therapy designed to target Epstein-Barr virus-positive cells.