Is Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from industry insiders. They fail miserably sometimes but historically their consensus stock picks outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.
Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. ATRA has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with ATRA holdings at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Flotek Industries Inc (NYSE:FTK), Rapid7 Inc (NASDAQ:RPD), and Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSM) to gather more data points.
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With all of this in mind, we’re going to check out the recent action regarding Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA).
How are hedge funds trading Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 22% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Baupost Group, managed by Seth Klarman, holds the number one position in Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA). Baupost Group has an $168.5 million position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Redmile Group, led by Jeremy Green, holding an $33 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, Oleg Nodelman’s EcoR1 Capital and Roberto Mignone’s Bridger Management.
As one would reasonably expect, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the most valuable position in Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA). Citadel Investment Group had $0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made an $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Flotek Industries Inc (NYSE:FTK), Rapid7 Inc (NASDAQ:RPD), Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSM), and Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ:ATRO). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to ATRA’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTK | 13 | 173981 | -1 |
| RPD | 5 | 13391 | 5 |
| GSM | 23 | 238916 | -4 |
| ATRO | 19 | 32401 | 4 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $115 million. That figure was $294 million in ATRA’s case. Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Rapid7 Inc (NASDAQ:RPD) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard GSM might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
