Swiss National Bank Increases Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 385,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 28,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.27% of Natera worth $77,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera during the first quarter worth about $940,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 8.3% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 212,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,452,000 after acquiring an additional 16,330 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 26.9% in the first quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Natera by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $267.18 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.83. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.81 and a 1 year high of $288.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -163.91 and a beta of 1.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total transaction of $17,184,180.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,076,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,097,181.38. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total value of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,743 shares in the company, valued at $24,035,465.29. This trade represents a 27.44% 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. Insiders sold 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,627,696 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NTRA shares. UBS Group set a $260.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. William Blair assumed coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.83.

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.