Bellevue Group AG Boosts Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 147,491 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,272 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG’s holdings in Natera were worth $24,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Natera in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Natera by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 1,857.1% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 274 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, Director Roy D. Baynes sold 7,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.08, for a total value of $1,710,577.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,525.72. This trade represents a 29.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total value of $479,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,559 shares in the company, valued at $18,808,264.41. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 312,053 shares of company stock worth $64,527,735 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTRA. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Natera from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Natera from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.29.

Natera Stock Up 0.4%

NTRA opened at $231.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $206.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.50. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.38 and a fifty-two week high of $246.90. The firm has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.29 and a beta of 1.63.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $592.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.55 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 14.61% and a negative return on equity of 25.07%. The business’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

About Natera

Natera, Inc, a diagnostics company, develops and commercializes molecular testing services worldwide. Its products include Panorama, a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus, as well as in twin pregnancies; Horizon carrier screening test for individuals and couples determine if they are carriers of genetic variations that cause certain genetic conditions; Vistara single-gene NIPT screens for 25 single-gene disorders that cause severe skeletal, cardiac, and neurological conditions; Spectrum, preimplantation genetic tests for couples undergoing IVF; Anora that analyzes miscarriage tissue from women; Empower, a hereditary cancer screening test; and non-invasive prenatal paternity product, which allows a couple to establish paternity without waiting for the child to be born.