OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Invests $3.48 Million in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,821 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,480,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Natera by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Natera by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after buying an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after buying an additional 72,087 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after buying an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 2.7%

Natera stock opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.43 and a twelve month high of $337.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $278.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -247.58 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total transaction of $79,057.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at $49,249,594.26. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NTRA. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.