Man Group plc Takes $110.41 Million Position in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 406,753 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,413,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NTRA. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $2,941,000. Kinetic Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Natera in the 2nd quarter valued at $16,504,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth $583,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Natera during the second quarter worth $23,551,000. Finally, EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Natera during the second quarter valued at $13,263,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NTRA opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -247.58 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.43 and a 1 year high of $337.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $278.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.01.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.74) EPS. Natera’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTRA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Natera from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.38.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, insider John Fesko sold 295 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.99, for a total value of $79,057.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 183,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,249,594.26. This trade represents a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, CEO Steven Leonard Chapman sold 3,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.39, for a total value of $819,415.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,611,561.83. The trade was a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 177,955 shares of company stock valued at $40,704,193. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.