Boothbay Fund Management LLC Increases Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 847.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,650 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 44.3% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,263,822 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $277,749,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Natera by 37.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Natera by 39.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $386,338,000 after buying an additional 673,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 118.3% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 572,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,774,000 after buying an additional 310,452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Up 5.2%

NTRA stock opened at $197.68 on Tuesday. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.38 and a 52 week high of $256.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.20 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.93.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results 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. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $1,147,822.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 156,607 shares in the company, valued at $31,968,186.91. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $144,319.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 189,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,621,191.87. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 318,222 shares of company stock valued at $74,068,068. 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.