66,875 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 66,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,153,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Down 3.7%

Natera stock opened at $326.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.61. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.43 and a 12-month high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued 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 firm 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) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,472 shares of company stock worth $42,799,604. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 target price on Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

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.