Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 727,855 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 15.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,040,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 727,855 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,096,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,962,770,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,117,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,537,000. Eagle Health Investments LP acquired a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $4,302,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Natera by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,538,000 after acquiring an additional 71,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the company’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 transaction of $9,089,637.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,035,465.29. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 184,472 shares of company stock valued at $42,799,604. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $326.26 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $343.18. The company has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $285.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.61.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.74) earnings per share. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup lifted 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. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.