Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.32 EPS

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) posted its earnings results on Monday. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.32, FiscalAI reports. Atara Biotherapeutics had a net margin of 15.40% and a negative return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $1.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.70 million.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

ATRA traded down $0.63 during trading on Monday, reaching $5.87. The stock had a trading volume of 226,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 526,367. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.08 and a 200-day moving average of $11.48. Atara Biotherapeutics has a one year low of $3.92 and a one year high of $19.15. The stock has a market cap of $42.32 million, a PE ratio of 2.69 and a beta of -0.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ATRA. New Street Research set a $6.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.00.

Insider Transactions at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other news, major shareholder Innovation Ltd Panacea sold 80,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.07, for a total value of $488,962.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,324,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,039,387.22. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $181,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics in the second quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 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 is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel T-cell immunotherapies to transform the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. Headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Atara leverages its proprietary off-the-shelf allogeneic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-directed T-cell platform to generate engineered cell therapies designed to target EBV-driven malignancies and immune-mediated disorders.

The company’s lead product candidate, tabelecleucel, is an off-the-shelf, EBV-specific T-cell therapy in clinical development for the treatment of EBV-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) and other EBV-associated cancers.