Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 629,271 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,822,508 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 629,271 shares during the quarter. Natera makes up 1.6% of Fred Alger Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Natera were worth $417,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. &PARTNERS grew its stake in shares of Natera by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 4,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth $474,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Natera by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,835 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Mangrove Partners IM LLC bought a new position in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth $1,136,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Natera by 729.7% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 25,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,898,000 after acquiring an additional 22,644 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NTRA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.53.

Natera Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $220.11 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $206.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.57. Natera, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.81 and a twelve month high of $256.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.04 and a beta of 1.56.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total value of $17,184,180.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,076,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $237,097,181.38. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total value of $291,683.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 185,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,684,020.88. The trade was a 0.77% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,378 shares of company stock worth $34,640,860. 5.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.