Forsta AP Fonden Sells 16,300 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 16,300 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Natera were worth $6,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Natera by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natera Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $218.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.24 and a beta of 1.56. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $256.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $202.69 and its 200 day moving average is $215.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, insider John Fesko sold 1,688 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.10, for a total value of $344,520.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 187,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,270,995.10. The trade was a 0.89% 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. Insiders sold 34,406 shares of company stock worth $6,984,955 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.60.

Natera Company 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.