Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Stock Price Passes 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 Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.19 and traded as low as $8.05. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $8.60, with a volume of 42,613 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ATRA shares. Rodman & Renshaw began coverage on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. RODMAN&RENSHAW cut Atara Biotherapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen raised Atara Biotherapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Atara Biotherapeutics from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Up 2.1 %

The company has a market cap of $49.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.81.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($16.50) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Atara Biotherapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 54,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 8,024 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 124,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 12,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 7,381 shares during the period. 70.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

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.