Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests $33.74 Million in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board 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 institutional investor purchased 124,300 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $33,741,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.09% of Natera at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth approximately $755,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $150,143,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $18,153,000. Brandywine Managers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $3,960,000. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter worth $24,539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Natera Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $338.70 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.43 and a 52 week high of $343.18. The stock's fifty day moving average is $283.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.96. The company has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -249.04 and a beta of 1.51.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative return on equity of 11.38% and a negative net margin of 7.11%.The company's revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.74) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NTRA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $310.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Natera from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of Natera 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at $1,343,009.43. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company's stock.

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.

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