Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Decreases Stake in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 471,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 157,510 shares during the period. Natera makes up approximately 1.2% of Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Natera were worth $107,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Natera by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 244 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Natera by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Natera by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in Natera by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp raised its position in Natera by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 931 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 99.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natera Stock Performance

NTRA opened at $222.82 on Wednesday. Natera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.81 and a 1 year high of $256.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.91 billion, a PE ratio of -136.70 and a beta of 1.56.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other news, insider John Fesko sold 1,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.84, for a total transaction of $291,683.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 185,782 shares in the company, valued at $37,684,020.88. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at $1,343,009.43. The trade was a 64.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 159,500 shares of company stock worth $34,664,208. 5.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NTRA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Natera from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Natera in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. William Blair started coverage on Natera in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natera currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.12.

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.