Castleark Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,780 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Natera by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp increased its stake in Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in shares of Natera by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH raised its position in shares of Natera by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,343,009.43. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total value of $17,184,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,076,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,097,181.38. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193 in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Natera Trading Up 0.5%

Natera stock opened at $338.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $48.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -248.86 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $340.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $281.03 and a 200-day moving average of $232.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.74) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast 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.