Leeward Financial Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Leeward Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,308,000. Natera makes up about 1.4% of Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coatue Management LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $372,398,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $386,338,000 after buying an additional 673,315 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total transaction of $79,057.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,249,594.26. This trade represents a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares in the company, valued at $26,611,561.83. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 over the last ninety days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Natera Trading Down 0.3%

NTRA opened at $309.93 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.71 and a twelve month high of $326.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a PE ratio of -227.89 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $263.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.40.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.74) EPS. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research boosted 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on Natera in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.