Coatue Management LLC Takes Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 170,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,417,000. Coatue Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Natera at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Impact Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 33.2% in the third quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 65,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,229 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natera by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 598,846 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,396,000 after buying an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Natera by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 223,651 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $36,001,000 after buying an additional 6,229 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Natera by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 761,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $122,547,000 after buying an additional 161,972 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in shares of Natera by 168.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,952 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 4,366 shares in the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NTRA opened at $187.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $219.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -122.78 and a beta of 1.65. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.38 and a 1 year high of $256.36.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.81. Natera had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $665.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $600.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Natera from $239.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Natera in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael Burkes Brophy sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $160,242.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 63,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,932,452.02. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 5,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $1,147,822.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 156,607 shares in the company, valued at $31,968,186.91. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 318,222 shares of company stock valued at $74,068,068. Company insiders own 5.63% of the company’s stock.

About Natera

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.