Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) CEO Sells $47,850.33 in Stock

Key Points

• Atara Biotherapeutics CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,241 shares for about $47,850, reducing his direct stake by 3.66%. The company said the sale was to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards.
• The stock edged up 0.4% to $9.45 in midday trading, with a market value of about $85.14 million. Shares remain below their 12-month high of $19.15 but above the low of $3.92.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leaning cautious, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50. Recent updates also highlighted ongoing class-action lawsuit notices, keeping legal risk in focus.

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA - Get Free Report) CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,241 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.13, for a total value of $47,850.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 137,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,258,451.81. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ATRA traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.45. 80,398 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,400. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.10 and a beta of -0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.00. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.92 and a twelve month high of $19.15.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $0.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 million. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 79.12% and a negative net margin of 40.91%. Equities research analysts predict that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Atara Biotherapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Atara Biotherapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from “strong sell” to “hold,” which can support sentiment by signaling less bearish expectations for the company. Read More
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms, including Rosen, Faruqi & Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, Pomerantz, Bronstein, and The Gross Law Firm, announced or renewed notices about a class-action lawsuit and the May 22, 2026 deadline for investors to seek lead-plaintiff status. These updates do not change fundamentals directly, but they keep legal risk and investor uncertainty in focus. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The repeated class-action announcements allege securities-law violations and seek damages for investors who bought Atara shares during the specified class period, reinforcing an existing legal overhang rather than introducing a new operational development. Article Title

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 60,136 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 20,321 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,213 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $181,000. 70.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATRA. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of Atara Biotherapeutics and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.50.

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.

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