Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,909 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in Natera during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at $49,249,594.26. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193. 5.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $327.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $276.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.09. The company has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a PE ratio of -240.97 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.43 and a fifty-two 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. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.74) EPS. Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.