Nwam LLC Lowers Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Nwam LLC lessened its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 48.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the period. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 6.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 68.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Natera by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at about $558,000. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on NTRA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Natera from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $325.17 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $46.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.09 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $289.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.14. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.74) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natera news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,500. The trade was a 79.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,424,043.21. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 62,348 shares of company stock valued at $15,870,496 over the last ninety days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.