2,780 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Acquired by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Natera during the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Natera 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total value of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,035,465.29. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193. 5.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $338.45 on Thursday. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.43 and a fifty-two week high of $340.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $281.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -248.86 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Natera Profile

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.