First Trust Advisors LP Buys 209,056 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 528,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 209,056 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Natera were worth $105,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 68.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,552 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 8.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Natera during the second quarter worth $558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total value of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,035,465.29. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NTRA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Natera from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Natera from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

Natera Trading Down 1.0%

Natera stock opened at $261.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.61. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $288.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -160.73 and a beta of 1.51.

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.