This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Atara Biotherapeutics

We note that the Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRA) President, Pascal Touchon, recently sold US$50k worth of stock for US$0.62 per share. It wasn't a huge sale, but it did reduce their holding by 12%. This does not instill confidence.

View our latest analysis for Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Director Eric Dobmeier for US$101k worth of shares, at about US$0.23 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$0.69. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 816.83k shares worth US$195k. But they sold 419.84k shares for US$341k. In total, Atara Biotherapeutics insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Does Atara Biotherapeutics Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From looking at our data, insiders own US$1.3m worth of Atara Biotherapeutics stock, about 1.6% of the company. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Atara Biotherapeutics Tell Us?

Insiders haven't bought Atara Biotherapeutics stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. So we'd only buy after very careful consideration. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. For instance, we've identified 6 warning signs for Atara Biotherapeutics (1 doesn't sit too well with us) you should be aware of.

Of course Atara Biotherapeutics may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.