66,875 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 66,875 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,153,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth about $2,962,770,000. Coatue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Natera by 94.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $372,398,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Natera by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total transaction of $17,184,180.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,076,198 shares in the company, valued at $237,097,181.38. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,472 shares of company stock worth $42,799,604. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $326.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.61. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.74) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

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.