OP Asset Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 16,195 Natera, Inc. $NTRA

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,239,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NTRA. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Natera by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 9,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after buying an additional 3,816 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 36.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 60,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,106,000 after buying an additional 16,142 shares during the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co lifted its holdings in shares of Natera by 33.3% during the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 1,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 45.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,609 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,721,000 after acquiring an additional 16,691 shares during the period. Finally, BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Natera by 5.1% in the first quarter. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Natera news, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,405 shares of Natera stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.69, for a total transaction of $693,564.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 142,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,984,068.55. The trade was a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 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 value of $2,389,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,343,009.43. This represents a 64.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,872 shares of company stock valued at $39,415,896. 5.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NTRA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Natera from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Natera in a report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Natera in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $259.22.

Natera Price Performance

Shares of Natera stock opened at $261.91 on Friday. Natera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.81 and a 52-week high of $271.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a PE ratio of -160.68 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.87.

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.