First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 209,056 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 528,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 209,056 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.37% of Natera worth $105,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 132.9% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NTRA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

Natera Trading Down 1.0%

Natera stock opened at $261.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -160.73 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.81 and a 12 month high of $288.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $240.75 and its 200-day moving average is $221.61.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,076,198 shares in the company, valued at $237,097,181.38. This represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,627,696. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.