Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 2,951 Shares of Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 0.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 347,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,951 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Natera were worth $69,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Natera by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Natera by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in Natera during the 1st quarter valued at about $17,014,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Natera by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 385,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $77,116,000 after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Natera during the 1st quarter worth approximately $940,000. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $4,132,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $237,097,181.38. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 173,951 shares of company stock worth $39,412,294. 5.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on Natera in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Natera in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Natera from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Natera from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.83.

Natera Stock Performance

Shares of NTRA stock opened at $267.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -164.27 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.81 and a 52-week high of $288.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.22.

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.