Natera, Inc. $NTRA Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 692,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,026 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $138,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Natera during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its holdings in Natera by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 163 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NTRA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on Natera from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.33.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $281.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -172.91 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $131.81 and a one year high of $288.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.90, for a total value of $818,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 134,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,744,074.70. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, Director Rowan E. Chapman sold 2,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.78, for a total value of $642,535.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,220.72. This trade represents a 48.69% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,627,696 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.05% 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.