Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) reported that Eric J. Hyllengren, the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, sold a total of $7,093 worth of company stock. The transactions occurred on August 16, 2024, with the sale prices ranging between $6.629 and $6.631 per share.
The sales were executed to satisfy tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of restricted stock units. According to the filing, these shares were sold automatically under a sale-to-cover provision outlined in the award agreement. This is a common practice where executives sell a portion of their vested shares to cover the taxes incurred upon vesting.
Hyllengren's transactions included two separate sales of Atara Biotherapeutics common stock. The first sale consisted of 1,041 shares at an average price of $6.629 per share, and the second, a smaller transaction, involved 29 shares sold at $6.631 each. Following these transactions, Hyllengren's direct ownership in the company stands at 24,756 shares.
The reported sales prices represent the weighted average price of all shares sold by a broker on behalf of a group of employees of the issuer, including Hyllengren, to satisfy their tax liabilities.
It's worth noting that the current share ownership reflects the 1:25 reverse stock split that Atara Biotherapeutics effected on June 20, 2024. Reverse stock splits are typically performed by companies aiming to boost their share price, often to meet exchange listing requirements or to improve perceptions of the stock's value.
Atara Biotherapeutics, headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing treatments for patients with serious diseases, including in the fields of oncology and autoimmune diseases.
"In other recent news, Atara Biotherapeutics has made several key advancements. The company's Biologics License Application (BLA) for tabelecleucel (tab-cel®), a therapy for Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, has been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This could potentially lead to a $20 million milestone payment from Pierre Fabre Laboratories upon FDA acceptance, with an additional $60 million upon FDA approval.
Atara Biotherapeutics has also executed a 1-for-25 reverse stock split, reducing the number of outstanding common shares from approximately 122.6 million to around 4.9 million. This action was taken to increase the market price of the company's common stock and meet the continued listing requirements on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.
In addition, Mizuho Securities has upgraded Atara Biotherapeutics from a Neutral to an Outperform rating, despite reducing the price target to $18 from the previous $25. The firm maintains a positive outlook on the company's core T-cell technology, even as they acknowledge the declining stock performance.
Furthermore, Atara Biotherapeutics has reported encouraging preclinical data on its allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy candidate, ATA3219. The therapy, designed for the treatment of B-cell driven autoimmune diseases, has shown potent B-cell depletion with a reduced inflammatory profile. Currently, ATA3219 is under investigation in a Phase 1 trial for relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These are some of the recent developments for Atara Biotherapeutics."
InvestingPro Insights
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) has been navigating a challenging financial landscape, as reflected in recent market data and analyst insights. The company's market capitalization stands at a modest $34.6 million, indicating a relatively small size within the biopharmaceutical sector. Despite a staggering revenue growth of 809.03% over the last twelve months as of Q2 2024, Atara's financial health is marked by significant losses, with a gross profit margin of -201.9% for the same period, underscoring the costs exceeding revenues. Additionally, the company's operating income margin at -276.21% further highlights the operational challenges it faces.
InvestingPro Tips suggest that while analysts are optimistic about sales growth in the current year, they are not expecting the company to turn a profit this year. This sentiment is echoed by the fact that Atara has been quickly burning through cash. Moreover, two analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period, which could indicate potential improvements in the company's financial performance. However, with short term obligations exceeding liquid assets, Atara may need to address its liquidity issues to maintain operational stability.
Shareholders have witnessed a significant decline in Atara's stock price, with a one-year total return of -80.72% as of a recent date in 2024. This performance is consistent with the broader trend of the stock taking a substantial hit over various time frames, including the last week, month, six months, and year-to-date. The company does not pay a dividend, which may limit its appeal to income-focused investors.
For those interested in a deeper analysis, there are an additional 13 InvestingPro Tips available on Atara Biotherapeutics, which can be found at https://www.investing.com/pro/ATRA. These tips provide further insights that could help investors make more informed decisions regarding their interest in the company.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.