Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 29,700 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 161,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Natera were worth $36,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $629,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 740.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,936 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,396,000 after purchasing an additional 66,896 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Natera by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,917 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,047,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at about $358,000. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $196.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.27 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $200.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.30. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. BTIG Research cut their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.60.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total value of $185,956.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 149,867 shares in the company, valued at $30,896,580.72. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 have sold a total of 38,266 shares of company stock valued at $7,747,808 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.63% 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.