Ninepoint Partners LP Buys Shares of 9,538 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,589,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTRA. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $518,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $488,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,665,000. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $725,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $288,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NTRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,637 shares in the company, valued at $14,159,898.14. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at $49,249,594.26. This trade represents a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 over the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $324.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -238.85 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $333.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.67.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. 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 previous year, the firm earned ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.