PointState Capital LP Acquires Shares of 258,012 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

PointState Capital LP bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 258,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,037,000. PointState Capital LP owned 0.18% of Natera as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Natera in the second quarter worth about $2,962,770,000. Coatue Management LLC lifted its position in Natera by 1,446.1% during the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Natera by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $372,398,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 10.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 99,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total transaction of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,159,898.14. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 0.5%

Natera stock opened at $338.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -248.86 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $281.03 and a 200-day moving average of $232.01. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $340.96.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.74) EPS. Natera’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 target price 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 assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

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.