K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Makes New $5.12 Million Investment in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 18,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at about $2,962,770,000. Coatue Management LLC raised its stake in Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $603,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Natera by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $372,398,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,611,561.83. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 181,045 shares of company stock worth $41,330,968. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Natera 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 12-month low of $156.71 and a 12-month high of $326.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $265.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.82.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.