Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Increases Stock Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 62.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,816 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Natera were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Natera by 22.0% during the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of Natera by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Natera by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH grew its stake in shares of Natera by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH now owns 2,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 99.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRA opened at $261.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.87. The company has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a PE ratio of -160.68 and a beta of 1.56. Natera, Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.81 and a 1-year high of $271.47.

Insider Activity at Natera

In other Natera news, Director Gail Boxer Marcus sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total transaction of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Roelof Botha sold 78,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.31, for a total transaction of $17,184,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,076,198 shares in the company, valued at $237,097,181.38. The trade was a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,415,896 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTRA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.22.

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.