Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 5,457 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,457 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Natera by 5.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

Natera Stock Performance

Natera stock opened at $326.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -239.90 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $157.43 and a one year high of $343.18.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. Natera’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,611,561.83. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 3,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total value of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 129,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 184,472 shares of company stock worth $42,799,604. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Natera Company 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.