OP Asset Management Ltd Purchases New Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,239,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Natera by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Natera by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in Natera by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH raised its position in Natera by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This trade represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 41,124 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total transaction of $9,089,637.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 178,872 shares of company stock worth $39,415,896 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NTRA opened at $261.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.68 and a beta of 1.56. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.81 and a 1 year high of $271.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $212.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.87.

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.