Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires New Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,385,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $30,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $321.96 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $286.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.55. The stock has a market cap of $46.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -236.73 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.43 and a 52 week high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NTRA. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Natera in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Stephens increased their target price on Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Natera from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,062,500. The trade was a 79.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of Natera 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 103,472 shares of company stock worth $24,960,134 in the last quarter. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Natera

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.