Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 211,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,096,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Natera at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 95.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Natera by 256.8% during the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 314 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 4,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.10, for a total value of $1,061,374.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,777 shares in the company, valued at $1,404,388.70. The trade was a 43.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 48,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.42, for a total value of $11,011,448.98. Following the sale, the director owned 20,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,626,177.64. The trade was a 70.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 339,524 shares of company stock worth $72,861,239. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Piper Sandler raised 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. BNP Paribas upgraded Natera to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.18.

Natera Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $234.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a PE ratio of -102.55 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $231.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.86. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.Natera’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share 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.