Man Group plc Takes Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 406,753 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,413,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.28% of Natera at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Natera by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on NTRA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price target on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

Natera Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Natera stock opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -247.58 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $278.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.01. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $337.12.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.74) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $131,077.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,159,898.14. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at $49,249,594.26. The trade was a 0.16% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

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.