Swiss National Bank Purchases 28,400 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 385,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Natera were worth $77,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Natera in the first quarter worth $940,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 8.3% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 212,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,452,000 after buying an additional 16,330 shares during the period. Future Fund LLC grew its position in Natera by 26.9% during the first quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,376,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV purchased a new position in Natera during the first quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Natera by 0.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,509,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. William Blair initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Natera from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.83.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $267.18 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -163.91 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $131.81 and a one year high of $288.04.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total transaction of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total transaction of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,035,465.29. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,627,696. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.