Aubrey Capital Management Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Aubrey Capital Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 26.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the period. Natera comprises 1.7% of Aubrey Capital Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Natera were worth $3,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Natera by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $596,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,689 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natera Trading Down 0.1%

NTRA opened at $272.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $230.18 and a 200 day moving average of $219.50. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.81 and a 12 month high of $288.04. The firm has a market cap of $39.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -167.28 and a beta of 1.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.90, for a total value of $818,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 134,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,744,074.70. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 178,872 shares of company stock worth $39,627,696. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NTRA. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Natera from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

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.