Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 6,900 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 197,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.14% of Natera worth $39,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in Natera by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Natera by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Natera by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 982 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Natera from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Natera from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 142,295 shares in the company, valued at $28,984,068.55. This represents a 2.34% 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total transaction of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,035,465.29. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 167,171 shares of company stock valued at $37,239,209. 5.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $258.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -158.30 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $242.06 and its 200 day moving average is $221.57. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.81 and a 1 year high of $288.04.

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.