Saudi Central Bank Has $2.56 Million Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Saudi Central Bank lifted its position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 94.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NTRA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Natera by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,854,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,944,800,000 after buying an additional 1,225,420 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth $2,962,770,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Natera by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,976,325 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Natera by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,389,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,624,000 after acquiring an additional 72,087 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC boosted its holdings in Natera by 1,446.1% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 2,633,334 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $603,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,008 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NTRA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Natera from $220.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $375.00 target price on Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Natera from $249.00 to $363.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $330.00 price target on Natera in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Fesko sold 6,517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.53, for a total transaction of $2,095,411.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 197,257 shares in the company, valued at $63,424,043.21. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 Chapman sold 1,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.99, for a total value of $545,041.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,520,897.01. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 71,206 shares of company stock valued at $19,944,069 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Natera Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $328.18 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $293.74 and a 200-day moving average of $238.68. Natera, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.43 and a 52 week high of $343.18. The company has a market capitalization of $47.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.31 and a beta of 1.54.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by $0.02. Natera had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a negative return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $752.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

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.