Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Reduces Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Key Points

• Rhenman & Partners Asset Management cut its stake in Natera by 46.1% in Q3, selling 26,500 shares and holding 31,000 shares valued at about $4.99 million at quarter-end.
• Major institutions like Vanguard and JPMorgan increased positions (Vanguard ~12.68M shares; JPMorgan ~11.63M shares) and institutional investors own 99.90% of the stock, while insiders have sold 363,303 shares (~$84.5M) in the past 90 days.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $253.47 after several upgrades, and Natera recently beat estimates with EPS $0.35 vs. -$0.46 expected and revenue of $665.5M vs. $600.7M expected.

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lowered its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA - Free Report) by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,000 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 26,500 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB's holdings in Natera were worth $4,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NTRA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,676,653 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,141,594,000 after buying an additional 282,826 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,628,914 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,871,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,129 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,725 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $430,640,000 after acquiring an additional 166,768 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Natera by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,937,647 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $327,346,000 after acquiring an additional 330,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Natera by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,750 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $291,717,000 after acquiring an additional 532,769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NTRA. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Natera from $197.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.47.

Natera Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $198.13 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.11 and a 200-day moving average of $205.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.50 and a beta of 1.65. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.68 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 3,594 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.02, for a total transaction of $830,285.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 178,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,140,272.62. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 6,939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.83, for a total value of $1,580,912.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,874,499.60. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 363,303 shares of company stock worth $84,523,079. Corporate insiders own 5.63% of the company's stock.

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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