Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) Share Price Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA - Get Free Report) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a fifty 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ATRA shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Atara Biotherapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.50.

Atara Biotherapeutics Trading Down 4.9%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.61. The company has a market cap of $92.17 million, a PE ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 0.21.

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.32). The business had revenue of $0.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.55 million. Equities analysts expect that Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Atara Biotherapeutics

In other Atara Biotherapeutics news, Director Brian Cherry purchased 104,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.60 per share, for a total transaction of $999,993.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 166,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,598,265.60. The trade was a 167.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anhco Nguyen sold 5,062 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,072,822. This represents a 3.67% decrease in their position. 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.

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