Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 130,460 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,534,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 130,460 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $580,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Natera in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.43, for a total transaction of $655,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 137,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,065,360.49. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total transaction of $17,184,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,076,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,097,181.38. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 148,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,274,898 in the last 90 days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NTRA. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.12.

Natera Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $213.47 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.13. The company has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.96 and a beta of 1.56. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36.

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.