6,000 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Bought by Encore Global Management LP

Encore Global Management LP bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,629,000. Natera comprises 1.6% of Encore Global Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Natera in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NTRA opened at $332.03 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.43 and a twelve month high of $333.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -244.14 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $274.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total transaction of $9,089,637.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,035,465.29. The trade was a 27.44% 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. Insiders sold 181,045 shares of company stock worth $41,330,968 in the last 90 days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NTRA. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

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.