Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.23 and traded as high as $9.91. Atara Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $9.18, with a volume of 19,493 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Atara Biotherapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics Stock Down 4.9%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.17 million, a PE ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 0.21.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $0.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.55 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atara Biotherapeutics

In related news, Director Brian N. Cherry purchased 104,166 shares of Atara Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.60 per share, for a total transaction of $999,993.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.08, for a total value of $40,900.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,072,822. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 41.20% of the company’s stock.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing T-cell immunotherapies for cancer and serious diseases associated with viral infections. The company’s approach uses allogeneic, or donor-derived, T cells that are selected or engineered to recognize disease-related targets, with the goal of providing off-the-shelf treatment options.

Atara’s lead product, Ebvallo (tabelecleucel), is an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy designed to treat Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD) in certain patients who have received a solid-organ or hematopoietic-cell transplant.