Savant Capital LLC Cuts Stock Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,036 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 23,949 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 9.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,003,129 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after purchasing an additional 72,087 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after purchasing an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $596,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,451,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $394,663,000 after purchasing an additional 41,303 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Wall Street Zen cut Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Natera from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.12.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $215.31 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $204.19 and a 200 day moving average of $216.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a PE ratio of -132.09 and a beta of 1.56. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $256.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 3,070 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.74, for a total transaction of $594,781.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 58,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,293,298.34. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total value of $693,564.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,530 shares of company stock worth $33,914,062. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.