Bellwether Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,496 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Natera, buying 9,496 shares valued at about $2.18 million. The filing comes amid broad institutional ownership, with 99.9% of shares held by institutions.
• Natera reported a strong quarterly beat, posting $0.35 EPS versus expectations for a loss and generating $665.5 million in revenue, above analyst estimates. However, the company still has negative margins and analysts expect a full-year loss.
• Analysts remain mostly constructive on Natera, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $256.60. Recent insider sales by the CEO and another executive were made under pre-arranged trading plans and to cover tax withholding on equity awards.

Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,496 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,175,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 68.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Natera by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $558,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA opened at $200.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $201.43 and a 200 day moving average of $215.50. Natera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.81 and a fifty-two week high of $256.36. The firm has a market cap of $28.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -123.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.The company had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NTRA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $256.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 142,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,838 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.14, for a total value of $1,191,769.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 150,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,777,983.66. The trade was a 3.73% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 38,266 shares of company stock worth $7,747,808 over the last quarter. 5.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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