Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Takes $534,000 Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,967 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Natera by 6.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Natera by 68.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Natera by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price target on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 129,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $131,077.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,637 shares in the company, valued at $14,159,898.14. The trade was a 0.92% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $327.72 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $276.45 and its 200-day moving average is $230.09. The stock has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -240.97 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $157.43 and a 52-week high of $333.56.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS 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.