Castle Hook Partners LP Purchases 420,621 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,167,869 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 420,621 shares during the quarter. Natera accounts for 2.1% of Castle Hook Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Castle Hook Partners LP owned approximately 1.57% of Natera worth $496,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,000. American Trust acquired a new stake in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $296,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its stake in Natera by 176.7% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 36,361 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $8,330,000 after purchasing an additional 23,218 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter worth about $492,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,599,299 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $595,473,000 after purchasing an additional 199,234 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $226.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.92 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.35 and a 200 day simple 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $256.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.43, for a total value of $655,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 137,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,065,360.49. This trade represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 162,342 shares of company stock valued at $35,283,396 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company's stock.

Natera Company 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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