Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 553,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,143,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA stock opened at $338.70 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.96. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.43 and a 52 week high of $343.18. The company has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a PE ratio of -249.04 and a beta of 1.51.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.74) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% 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 this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. The trade was a 2.57% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on NTRA. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

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.