BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Purchases New Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Key Points

• BlueCrest Capital Management acquired 43,082 Natera shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $11.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.90% of Natera’s outstanding stock.
• Natera reported quarterly revenue of $752.75 million, up 37.7% year over year and above estimates, while its adjusted loss of $0.47 per share modestly beat expectations.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $330.83, while shares recently traded at $330.31. Insiders have sold about $19.9 million of stock over the past three months through pre-arranged plans, primarily to cover tax obligations.

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 43,082 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $11,695,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 68.3% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Natera by 8.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Natera during the second quarter worth $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Natera in the second quarter valued at $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Natera stock opened at $330.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -242.87 and a beta of 1.54. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.43 and a twelve month high of $343.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.25.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.74) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRA. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Natera from an "outperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Natera from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.83.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $63,424,043.21. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 15,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.89, for a total transaction of $4,955,652.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 110,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,238,698.51. This represents a 12.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,206 shares of company stock worth $19,944,069. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Natera Profile

Natera, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services based on cell-free DNA and other genomic technologies. The company focuses on reproductive health, oncology and organ health, providing tests intended to support screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and disease monitoring.

Its reproductive health portfolio includes Panorama, a noninvasive prenatal test that screens for certain chromosomal conditions, and Horizon, a carrier screening test.

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