Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 211,815 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 211,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,096,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NTRA. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Natera during the second quarter worth $33,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Natera by 95.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 225 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Natera by 256.8% in the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 314 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natera

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 4,692 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.76, for a total transaction of $1,082,725.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,090,879.40. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 160,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.96, for a total value of $32,134,171.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,957,407.36. This represents a 52.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 339,524 shares of company stock valued at $72,861,239 in the last quarter. 5.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Natera from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.18.

Natera Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Natera stock opened at $234.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -102.55 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.86. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.38 and a 12-month high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The medical research company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by ($0.25). Natera had a negative return on equity of 25.07% and a negative net margin of 14.61%.The firm had revenue of $592.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Natera’s revenue was up 34.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 EPS for the current year.

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.