Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $150.14 Million Investment in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 553,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,143,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.38% of Natera as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NTRA. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Natera by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 68.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Natera

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 129,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,264,866.02. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 target price on Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Natera Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NTRA opened at $338.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -249.04 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $343.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.96.

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

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.