Focused Alpha LLC Acquires New Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Focused Alpha LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,962,770,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,675,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $86,874,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $622,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at $26,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $314.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -231.01 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.71 and a 1-year high of $326.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.82.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The firm had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.74) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total value of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,264,866.02. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total transaction of $2,389,310.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 181,045 shares of company stock worth $41,330,968 over the last ninety days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Natera 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.