Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. $ATRA Shares Sold by Vestal Point Capital LP

Key Points

• Vestal Point Capital LP reduced its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 24.7%, retaining approximately 94,085 shares worth $559,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Atara Biotherapeutics reported a surprising profit of $0.19 EPS for the quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of a loss of $0.32.
• Major shareholder Innovation Ltd Panacea recently acquired 55,000 shares at an average price of $12.19, increasing their ownership stake by 4.07%.

Vestal Point Capital LP reduced its position in Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,085 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 30,915 shares during the quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP owned about 1.58% of Atara Biotherapeutics worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics by 60.0% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 80,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. Northern Trust Corp purchased a new position in Atara Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $149,000. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Atara Biotherapeutics by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 267,353 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,558,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares during the last quarter. 70.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ATRA stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 65,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,842. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.98 and a 200-day moving average of $8.47. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.01 and a twelve month high of $18.70. The stock has a market cap of $90.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.02 and a beta of 0.22.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by $0.51. Atara Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 3.07%.The company had revenue of $17.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.23 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Innovation Ltd Panacea acquired 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.19 per share, for a total transaction of $670,450.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,405,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,950. This trade represents a 4.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.