SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. Purchases New Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 8,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Natera by 790.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 130.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,621 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,973,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Natera by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $596,078,000 after purchasing an additional 11,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Natera by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $213.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $201.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.63. Natera, Inc. has a one year low of $131.81 and a one year high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.25 and a beta of 1.57.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 9.05%.The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 1,652 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $335,091.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 140,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,528,026.12. The trade was a 1.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of Natera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $291,683.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 185,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,684,020.88. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 41,356 shares of company stock valued at $8,374,584. 5.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NTRA. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair began coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Natera from $265.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.60.

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.