Should You Buy Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (ATRA)?

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.

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.