E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Invests $488,000 in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natera during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natera during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.58, for a total transaction of $905,627.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 129,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,264,866.02. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 41,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.03, for a total value of $9,089,637.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,035,465.29. The trade was a 27.44% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 181,045 shares of company stock valued at $41,330,968 over the last 90 days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natera Price Performance

NASDAQ NTRA opened at $324.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -238.85 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.43 and a 12 month high of $333.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $271.84 and a 200-day moving average of $228.67.

Natera (NASDAQ:NTRA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The medical research company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned ($0.74) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Natera, Inc. will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $348.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Leerink Partners set a $330.00 target price on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Natera from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Natera in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.38.

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.