Kinetic Partners Management LP Acquires Shares of 60,800 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Kinetic Partners Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 60,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,504,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,944,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Natera during the second quarter valued at $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Natera by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,140,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420,263 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Natera by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,624,000 after buying an additional 72,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coatue Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 1,446.1% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after buying an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 2.7%

NTRA stock opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $278.79 and its 200 day moving average is $231.01. The stock has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -247.58 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $157.43 and a 1-year high of $337.12.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $752.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.24 million. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.74) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total transaction of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,611,561.83. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.22, for a total value of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,159,898.14. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders sold 177,955 shares of company stock worth $40,704,193. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.38.

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.