Virtus Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,741 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera in the second quarter worth about $2,962,770,000. Coatue Management LLC boosted its position in Natera by 1,446.1% during the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Natera by 94.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,398,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,420 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $131,077.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,159,898.14. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 99,897 shares in the company, valued at $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% 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 valued at $41,330,968. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA opened at $324.84 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $157.43 and a 52-week high of $333.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -238.85 and a beta of 1.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.