Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) Short Interest Down 18.4% in November

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 519,500 shares, a drop of 18.4% from the October 31st total of 636,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 147,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 12.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Atara Biotherapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ ATRA remained flat at $12.18 during trading hours on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 31,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,269. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.02. Atara Biotherapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.50 and a 1 year high of $39.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 0.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.93) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($3.77) by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($16.50) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Atara Biotherapeutics will post -12.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from $13.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atara Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Atara Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth about $79,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 52.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 7,680 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,061 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 7,381 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.90% of the company’s stock.

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.