Swedbank AB Has $11.04 Million Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,184 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Natera were worth $11,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $200.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.50. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36. The company has a market cap of $28.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 482 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total transaction of $101,456.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,496 shares in the company, valued at $12,102,333.04. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider John Fesko sold 291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $59,992.56. Following the sale, the insider owned 187,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,597,275.20. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 in the last 90 days. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.60.

Natera Company Profile

Natera is a global diagnostics company that develops and commercializes cell-free DNA and other genetic testing technologies for clinical applications. The company focuses on three principal areas: reproductive health (including non-invasive prenatal testing and carrier screening), oncology (tumor-informed assays for minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring), and organ transplantation (cell-free DNA tests to detect allograft injury). Natera combines laboratory testing, proprietary bioinformatics, and clinical reporting to deliver personalized genetic information to clinicians and patients.

Key product offerings include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and select single-gene conditions; Horizon carrier screening for inherited conditions; Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed assay used for detecting minimal residual disease and monitoring treatment response in cancer patients; and Prospera, a donor-derived cell-free DNA test used to assess the risk of organ rejection.