Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Holdings in Natera, Inc. $NTRA

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) by 3,373.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Natera were worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coatue Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,463,008 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Natera by 94.7% in 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 buying an additional 2,420,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Natera in the 4th quarter worth about $372,398,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Natera by 10.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,225,420 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Natera by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $386,338,000 after acquiring an additional 673,315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.90% of the company’s stock.

Natera Trading Up 1.7%

NTRA opened at $267.18 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $236.50 and its 200 day moving average is $220.83. The company has a market cap of $38.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -163.91 and a beta of 1.51. Natera, Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.81 and a 12-month high of $288.04.

Insider Transactions at Natera

In related news, Director Herm Rosenman sold 16,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $4,132,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,500. This trade represents a 79.55% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Also, insider Solomon Moshkevich sold 3,000 shares of Natera stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.90, for a total value of $818,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 134,643 shares in the company, valued at $36,744,074.70. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 178,872 shares of company stock worth $39,627,696 over the last three months. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research set a $275.00 target price on shares of Natera and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Natera from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Natera in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Natera in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.83.

About Natera

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.