Coatue Management LLC Invests $27.42 Million in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 170,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,417,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Natera by 44.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,625,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,795,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263,822 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at about $277,749,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Natera by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,665,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,987,000 after buying an additional 727,366 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Natera by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $386,338,000 after buying an additional 673,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Natera by 118.3% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 572,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,774,000 after buying an additional 310,452 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 85,299 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.72, for a total value of $19,680,185.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 127,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,504,704.32. The trade was a 40.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Fesko sold 17,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.74, for a total value of $4,179,780.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 177,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,687,711.34. The trade was a 9.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 318,222 shares of company stock valued at $74,068,068 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Natera from $218.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.47.

Natera Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $187.85 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $219.73 and its 200 day moving average is $206.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -122.78 and a beta of 1.65. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.38 and a 12 month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

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.