Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $492,000 in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,814 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in Natera by 6.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Natera by 68.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $558,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $325.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.86 billion, a PE ratio of -239.02 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.01. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.71 and a 1-year high of $326.03.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value 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 represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,264,866.02. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 have sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock worth $41,330,968 in the last ninety days. 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.