Korea Investment CORP Invests $19.78 Million in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 72,864 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,779,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Natera by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp increased its position in Natera by 5.5% in the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in Natera by 3.1% in the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH raised its stake in shares of Natera by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total transaction of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $332.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $274.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -244.14 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.43 and a 12-month high of $333.56.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Natera in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Two equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average 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.