5,327 Shares in Natera, Inc. $NTRA Acquired by Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,327 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,446,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,962,770,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new position in Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,117,000. Abbot Financial Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,537,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 438,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,538,000 after purchasing an additional 71,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Natera by 3,373.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total transaction of $79,057.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 183,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,249,594.26. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $131,077.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,637 shares in the company, valued at $14,159,898.14. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968. 5.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Natera Price Performance

NTRA stock opened at $332.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -244.14 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $333.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $274.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.38.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Natera from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Natera from $315.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Natera from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.