Natera, Inc. $NTRA Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 85.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,393 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 261,329 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Natera were worth $10,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Natera by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,871,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,129 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,096,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 148,247 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 57,400 shares during the last quarter. SWS Partners increased its stake in shares of Natera by 11.8% in the third quarter. SWS Partners now owns 47,037 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Natera by 192.5% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,614 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Down 6.9%

NTRA stock opened at $182.65 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.38 and a 52 week high of $256.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.38 and a beta of 1.65.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.41) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Natera from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Natera from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.47.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 785 shares of the business’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 $160,242.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,932,452.02. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $1,147,822.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 156,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,968,186.91. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 318,344 shares of company stock valued at $74,091,416. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

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.